TMNT: Expect The Unexpected
by catloversjt
Summary: Sewers, mutants, friendship, and betrayal, along with the discovery that in a world so unknown, you must always expect the unexpected.
1. Chapter 1

Faith Hayes hurried past the crowd and raced out of the large school doors. "It's finally over!" she squealed excitedly to her friend, Lilly. The two fourteen year-old girls slowed to a walk.

"I know," Lilly agreed, glancing around the school grounds. Her light, gray eyes scanned lazily over each of their classmates as they rushed past. "Summer's finally here."

"D'you think Kain will be out, soon?" Faith asked, referring to her older brother.

Lilly shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, maybe."

"Come on, we can leave a note at the tree where he always meets me," Faith said, gesturing to her friend to follow her to the large tree by which Kain and Faith always met after school. Slipping out a piece of note paper, Faith rummaged through her backpack until she found a pencil. "Do you have a pin or something with you?" she asked as she quickly jotted down, _Walked home. Meet me there. Faith._ on the sheet of paper.

Lilly reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small tack. She handed it to Faith.

"Dude, I don't know why you always have everything I need whenever I need it, but it's awesome," Faith said, pinning the note to the tree and walking towards her home.

Lilly rushed up to her friend's side and poked her shoulder.

"Hmm?" Faith asked, keeping her eager, hazel eyes fixed on the path in front of her.

Lilly's long, silver hair fluttered behind her as she said, "Hey, um… Sorry, but I've got to go…"

Faith looked over at her friend. _Go?_ she thought to herself. "But… Ly, you said that you would come over and play Xbox with me," she said to Lilly.

Lilly looked down guiltily at her black shoes, which bore zebra-striped laces. "I know, I'm sorry, Faith. But I have to go… I promise we'll play Xbox later," she said, turning and leaving her friend.

Faith stifled a sigh and forced herself to smile. "Okay. See you soon…" Turning to walk on towards her house, the teenager kept her gaze low. _She always has to leave. Does she not want to hang out with me? If that's the case, she could just tell me, instead of letting me think there's something wrong with me,_ she thought as she shuffled her feet along the sidewalk.

As she dragged her orange backpack along, a few blocks from her house, Faith heard a clattering sound in a nearby alleyway. She lifted her head from her neon yellow-orange tennis shoes to look down the dark alley. _What the..?_

"Hello?" she asked, narrowing her eyes and peering into the darkness. When there was no response, the curious teenager slinked closer to the alley and approached it eagerly. _It won't be bad if I just take a little peek,_ she reassured herself. Taking a deep, calming breath, Faith trotted into the alleyway, eyeing every corner and shadowy spot as she did so.

The sound of metal rattling rang out once again, and Faith jumped backwards. Turning her head quickly, she looked at what she presumed to be the culprit of the surprising sound: A sewer lid. Faith tilted her head to one side. _Who plays around in the sewers?_ she wondered silently.

Looking over her shoulder to the empty streets, Faith made sure that there was nobody watching. The last thing she needed was a gang teaming up on her or something. Edging closer to the manhole, she tentatively reached a hand down to poke it, before taking a quick step back. When nothing happened, Faith stepped forward once more and lifted the lid.

"Hello?" she whispered loudly into the hole. When Faith did not receive a reply, she threw a quick glance over her shoulder once more before her curiosity got the best of her. _I can just investigate for a moment, and then I will head home so that Kain doesn't worry._ After a quick assurance that this was not a decision that she would regret, Faith clambered clumsily down the metal ladder, and into the sewers.


	2. Chapter 2

Kain limped quickly out of the classroom for the last time this year. Wincing at the pain in his crippled right leg, he hurried out of the now deserted school and headed straight towards the large tree by which Faith was supposed to wait for him.

When he got there, however, it was as empty as the rest of the schoolyard. Stifling a sigh, Kain was about to go look for his younger sister until a note upon the tree caught his eye. Skimming over the words brought another sigh from the fifteen year-old. _Walked home. Meet me there. Faith._

 _Why does she always leave me like this?_ Kain wondered silently. Did Faith not know that it worried him when he did not know where she was? His deep, lavender-colored eyes—which were covered by black shades-cast quick glances across the grounds before he headed towards home, muttering softly to himself.

"I will need to mention this to her. She will not be leaving me to wonder where she is any longer. Not at school, and not anywhere else," Kain said to nobody in particular, his deep voice pierced with its usual seriousness.

As Kain shuffled along the sidewalk, his black backpack hanging on his left shoulder, he kept his gaze locked onto the ground before him. He was often like this—quiet and thoughtful, yet always alert and aggressive.

"Hey! _Hey!_ Hey, Kain!" The familiar voice of Lilly rang through Kain's ears.

Stifling a grumble of annoyance, the teenager lifted his head and muttered, "Hey."

"F-Faith… She, she went home," Lilly panted. It seemed, to Kain, that she had either run a long way, or she just was not used to walking.

Kain's eyes narrowed. "She mentioned something about you coming over to play her Xbox, today. Was there a change of plans?"

Lilly's gray eyes shifted and she shuffled her feet. "Well... I had to go do something, see," she explained, "and I told her I would come over later."

"Oh?" Kain asked. "When might _later_ be?"

"Uh… Soon," Lilly said, bobbing her head. What Kain presumed to be her cell phone beeped in her pocket and she said quickly, "Oh! I have to go! See you later, Kain!"

Kain watched Lilly bolt away and absentmindedly wondered where she might be going. Shrugging it off, the boy began to limp slowly back to his house.

 _What will Faith's excuse be today?_ he pondered; _perhaps it will be that she needed to use the restroom. But that would be a bad excuse, considering the school was right there. Maybe she will tell me that I am too slow. That one is overused, though. Maybe she will tell me—_ Kain's train of thought was interrupted the sound of footsteps and voices nearby.

"I stole a thirteen year-old's lunch money, today."

"Well, I took candy from a baby."

"Been there, done that. I stole a lady's purse this afternoon."

 _Oh, great. Just what I need,_ Kain thought, sarcastically. He knew those voices too well. They were the voices of the school bullies. Faith was convinced that they were in some sort of gang.

"Hey, look! If it isn't Limp," one of the boys sneered as he came around the corner of the street and gawked at Kain. The other two hurried to look over the leader's shoulder.

"Hah. Limp? That's the best you can come up with, Justin?" Kain asked the boy who had spoken.

Justin narrowed his deep, brown eyes. His short, dark hair stood tall as he stepped towards Kain. "Well, it describes you pretty well," he said, motioning for his two followers to back him up. They stuck by his side, but said nothing.

"Ah, perhaps. But it is so old. Can you not use your brain to at least think up a decent nickname for me? Or, do you even have a brain?" Kain scoffed, a smirk forming upon the edges of his mouth.

Justin's temples throbbed and Kain could almost feel his fury emitting from him in waves. "'Course I have a brain. If anyone here doesn't, it's you."

"Right, right. Says the one who cannot stand up to anybody unless his followers are with him. I suppose you must have a brain, you just are not capable of using it," Kain growled. "Okay. I am sorry that I said you do not have a brain. But you are a coward; I have already given reasons for my train of thought, there."

Justin continued to seethe. "I'm not a coward! I'm not scared of you, or anybody else!" he said, taking another step forward.

Kain loved to annoy Justin and his 'pals' as much as the next guy, but he knew when enough was enough. "Hey, good chat, good chat. But I have got to go. Got things to do. I _do_ have a life, you know," he said, quickly stumbling off. _The main reason I hate my crippled leg,_ Kain thought, _is because it gets in the way when I am in a situation like this._

"After him!" Kain heard Justin's voice behind him, though it was barely audible around the sound of his own beating heart ringing through his ears.

 _Home is just a few streets down. I can make it, if I hurry._

Ignoring the pain in his right leg from the stress he was putting upon it, Kain stumbled as quickly as he could around the corner and up to his front door. Banging his fist against it, he called, "Faith! Faith, open the door!" _She had better not have that music blasting through those headphones again._

As the boys advanced quickly on Kain, he began to become uneasy. Although he was always getting himself into trouble like this, the adrenaline still pumped through his veins every time. Rattling on the doorknob, Kain came to the realization that the door was unlocked as soon as it flew open. _I will tell her off for leaving the door unlocked later, maybe,_ he thought as he flung himself into the house and slammed the door behind him. Quickly fumbling to lock the door, Kain sighed with relief and sunk into the tile flooring beneath him, glancing at the backpack lying on the floor next to him.

"H-Hey, Faith!" he panted. When there was no reply, Kain stumbled to a standing position and, ignoring Justin and his follower's voices outside, he headed upstairs to Faith's room. "Faith?" After quickly looking through her room, Kain came to realize that his sister was not home. _Perfect. Now I will have to go find her. But for now, I will wait until Justin finds out that beating on the door will not get him very far._


	3. Chapter 3

Lilly ran down the street and skidded to a halt as she reached the stop sign. Whipping out her cell phone, she dialed in the all-too-familiar number and waited. It rang, once, twice, and then the man on the other end picked up.

 _"_ _Lilly?"  
_

"Yes. Hello. I finished running, like you told me to," Lilly replied, still attempting to catch her breath.

 _"_ _Well done."_ The praise from the deep voice sent a shock of pleasure through Lilly. _"You have completed all that you must do today. I will call you later if you are needed to do anything else."  
_

"Okay. Thanks," Lilly said. The man on the other end hung up and Lilly put her phone back into her pocket. _Now I can go see Faith,_ she reminded herself. She was not about to let her friend down, again.

As she walked to the Hayes' house, Lilly wondered if Faith ever thought of how Lilly was always dumping her. _I hope she doesn't mind. I hope that she understands we are still friends, even if my life is complicated; especially at the moment,_ Lilly thought.

Approaching the door of the familiar, expensive-looking house, Lilly reached out and knocked on the door. As she waited, she brushed her thin, silvery hair behind her right ear. _I wonder if Kain's home,_ she thought.

Just then, the door flew open, and Kain's voice rang out, "What's with the note—oh… Lilly. Sorry, I thought you were Faith."

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked, "Didn't she come home?"

Kain shook his head. "I don't know. I came home and she was not here," he explained. Lilly glanced down at his crippled leg for a moment. He must have noticed because he took a step back, and said, "Come on in, she will probably be home soon."

"O-Okay," Lilly stammered, stumbling awkwardly into the Hayes' household. _You know he doesn't like it when people look at his leg!_ Lilly scolded herself. "Hey, Kain?" she asked, as she entered the living room and sat down onto the couch.

Kain limped into the living room as well, and sat down upon the couch opposite of the one Lilly was in. "Yes?"

"Do you… Do you remember when your leg was—"

Kain narrowed his eyes and growled, "Yes. Of course. Why?"

"I-I," Lilly stammered. She understood why Kain did not like to speak of the accident, but her curiosity overwhelmed her almost every time she thought about it. When Kain glowered at her expectantly, Lilly knew that she was not going to get out of this. "I was just wondering if you remembered how long it took for Faith to convince you that you guys were related."

Kain was silent for a moment, and Lilly wished that he would remove his shades so that she could read his expression. He then spoke. "Yes…"

"She was still trying to convince you when I met you, and that was at least two years ago. When'd the accident happen, again? When you were—"

"I was ten," Kain said, curtly.

" _Ten?_ I met you when we were _thirteen_ ," Lilly said in awe. _Was he really that stubborn? Did it really take over three years for Faith and her mother to convince Kain that they were related to him?  
_

"I know."

"What… What exactly happened?"

Kain fell silent again, and just when Lilly assumed that he was ready to drop the subject, he replied. "I was hit by a car; lost my memory up to that day. I knew who I was, but everyone around me was just another stranger. I did not want to accept the fact that Faith was my sister because I could not believe it. How was I to know that she was not deceiving me? I was not sure of anything back then; I did not trust anybody or anything. I did not even trust myself. As for my leg, it was crippled."

"Oh, Kain… I'm sorry," Lilly said, quietly.

"Don't be. The past is in the past. Can't do anything about it," Kain grunted.

The two sat in silence from then on, waiting patiently for the arrival of Faith.


	4. Chapter 4

"Is anybody down here?" Faith asked as she traveled through the sewers. "Oh, darn it… My shoes are all muddy now." She looked down at her once-neon-orange shoes, which were now soaked with the watery sewage that she trudged through.

As Faith continued to walk, she came across turnstiles. Smiling, the excited teenager bounded forward. _I wonder if anyone's down here,_ she thought. Pushing herself through the nearest turnstile, she walked into what seemed to be a living room.

The first things she saw were a few blue couches and a television set. For the first time, Faith did not smell sewage anymore. _Is that… Pizza?_ Faith loved pizza. Looking around, she took a step back and widened her eyes as she saw a figure sitting before the TV. It seemed to be holding a game system controller and all of its attention was focused on what it was doing.

 _Is that a…turtle?_ Faith wondered, excitedly. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, she was knocked to the ground from behind.

The weight upon Faith was almost unbearable, and the masculine voice that growled into her ear was icy and it sent a chill down her spine.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I-I, I'm Faith; Faith Hayes. I heard something in an alleyway so I came to see what it was. I just went down into the manhole and it led me here," Faith explained, quickly.

"Raph! Get off of her," another male voice ordered.

The person who pinned Faith to the ground grunted before finally releasing her.

"Sorry about that," the second voice said. Faith looked up and saw another human-sized turtle. This one was wearing a blue bandana and had some sort of sheathed swords strapped to the back of his shell. He smiled softly down at Faith and held out a three-fingered hand.

Beaming, Faith took his hand without hesitating. _I like this guy. He's nice._

The figure helped Faith to her feet and dipped his head respectfully. "I'm Leonardo. But you can call me Leo," he said.

"Hi, Leo!" Faith said, brightly. "I'm Faith; it's nice to meet you." After a moment, she opened her mouth, but Leo spoke first.

"We're mutant turtles," he explained quickly. It was almost as if he knew that Faith was about to ask what they were.

"We are not," a new voice argued. It sounded much younger than the previous two. "We're _teenage_ mutant _ninja_ turtles," it said, emphasizing the parts that Leo missed.

Leo stifled a sigh. "Yes, yes, we're teenage mutant ninja turtles. That's Michelangelo, by the way," he said, gesturing to the third speaker, who had gotten up and walked over to see what was going on. Michelangelo turned out to be the one that Faith had spotted in front of the television when she first entered. He had an orange bandana and some sort of sticks with chains attaching them.

He held out his hand and Faith took it, shaking it enthusiastically.

"Mikey, have you seen my—"A fourth voice was heard as another figure—this one taller than the others—entered the room. He wore a purple mask and had a long staff attached to his back.

"Your..?" Michelangelo asked, looking over at the newcomer.

"Donnie, this is Faith," Leo explained, quickly. "Faith, this is Donatello."

Faith nodded and smiled broadly. "Hi, Donnie."

"Yes, hello," Donatello said, distractedly. "Mikey, have you seen my wrench?"

"Um… No, what wrench?" Mikey asked, smiling.

Donnie narrowed his eyes, and Faith allowed her gaze to wander across the room. She watched Donatello leave before she gawked at the first figure. He wore a red bandana and was holding some sort of _weapons_ that looked like salad tongs of some sort.

"That's Raphael," Leo said, gesturing to the figure.

"Hiya, Raph!" Faith said, stepping towards him. His watchful, green eyes pierced into Faith as she approached him. "I think we started off on the wrong foot, here. I'm Faith." She held out her hand, which Raphael did not take. Instead, he just muttered something and trotted away.

"Don't take it personally," Mikey said, coming to stand beside Faith. "He's like that to everyone."

"I guess…" Faith said, still feeling bad.

"Do you like video games?" Mikey asked, after a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, Faith saw Leo face-palm.

Faith widened her eyes as she looked at Michelangelo, who was beaming. _I like him,_ she thought. _He's nice. And he seems to be the type of guy that I would totally get along with._ " _Like_ video games?" Faith asked. "No way." When Mikey looked disappointed, she added, "I _love_ them."

"Great!" Mikey said, beaming. "We got a _ton."  
_

"Awesome!" Faith said, fist-bumping Mikey.

"How about pizza?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

Faith smiled. "Love that too!" she exclaimed.

"Leo!" Mikey shouted, looking at the blue-masked turtle. "Faith likes pizza _and_ video games!"

Leo nodded his head. "That's great. She'll fit right in, here."

Faith smiled and looked around. "You guys… You're nice and all, but… I really should go..."

"But… You just _got_ here," Mikey protested.

"I know, but my brother, Kain... He will be worried about me if I don't get home."

Leo came over to Faith's side. "Well, feel free to drop by anytime, just… If you don't mind, don't mention us to anybody else. The world treats us better when they don't know we exist."

Faith smiled and nodded. "Can do."

"But… Leo, does she _have_ to go?" Mikey asked, poking his brother's shoulder.

"Mikey, she does—"

Faith looked around for a moment. She did not want to leave, even if she probably should. "Well… I might be able to stay, for a while. Maybe… I can spend the night with you guys. I mean, if you're all okay with it." Faith figured that it was rude to simply invite herself over, so she decided to suggest the idea rather than stating it decisively.

Leonardo stayed silent for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Alright. You can sleep on the couch if you would like. Or you can sleep in one of our rooms, if you're more comfortable with that."

Faith beamed. "Can I spend the night in Mikey's room?" she asked, right away. _This will be epic,_ Faith thought, _I can spend the night with a dude who likes video games and pizza. We'll be up all night talking about our likes and dislikes and favorite characters and least favorite characters in movies and games... I wonder if he likes comics.  
_

"Sure," Leo said. "Mikey, go ahead and show Faith to your room. We'll have some pizza tomorrow morning."

Mikey nodded and eagerly led Faith to his room. When they arrived, the orange-masked turtle opened the door and gestured for Faith to enter. She stepped quickly into the dim room and looked around. The bed was messy and unmade, and video game controllers were scattered around the floor. There was a strong smell of pizza, as well.

"Nice…" Faith said, gazing around.

Mikey shrugged and threw himself onto his bed. He looked up at Faith, his blue eyes sparkling.

Faith tilted her head to the right side and smiled. A yawn escaped her mouth and she rubbed her eyes, lazily scanning the room again.

Michelangelo stood up and nodded towards the bed. "You can use that."

"Oh. Uh, thanks," Faith said. She walked slowly over to the bed and laid down. It was surprisingly comfortable here. _These guys are like the friends that I always wanted,_ she thought to herself. With that last thought, Faith closed her eyes and drifted quickly into a deep slumber.


	5. Chapter 5

Kain sat quietly on the sofa, his right, crippled leg perched upon the coffee table before him. His eyes, which were not visible because of the black shades that he always wore, were locked on Lilly.

"Hey, where did Faith say she would be heading?" he asked, trying to seem casual.

Lilly looked up at Kain and blinked her gray—almost white—eyes. "Oh, um… S-she said that she would be going home." She stuttered slightly when she spoke.

Kain's sides heaved as he sighed deeply. "Alright."

In his pocket, Kain's phone began to ring. Sitting up and removing his leg from the table, the boy fumbled around in his jean pocket and quickly pulled out his cell phone.

Kain answered the call, and asked, "Faith?" Lilly tilted her head as she eyed Kain.

 _"_ _Hi, Kain. It's Mom."  
_

"Oh…" Kain said dully, sinking back into the couch. "Hi, Mom."

 _"_ _Is Faith home?"  
_

Kain began to become uneasy. _Should I tell her?_ "Oh, um… No, she is not. She is out, still."

 _"_ _Out? Where is 'out'?"  
_

"I do not know the answer to that."

 _"_ _What do you mean you don't know the answer? Kain, tell me where Faith is."  
_

"I can't, Mom! I don't know where she is!" Kain growled, closing his eyes and trying to keep calm. It was little things like his mother never believing him that really ticked him off.

 _"_ _Well, you'd best go find her. I will be home as soon as possible."  
_

"Okay. Bye, Mom," Kain said, hanging up.

Lilly spoke as soon as Kain was finished on the phone. "What did she want?"

Kain slipped his cell back into his pocket and sighed. "She wanted to know where Faith was, and said that she would be home soon." _Yeah, but every time she says that, she never shows up,_ Kain thought, bitterly.

"Oh…"

"I had better go find Faith before Mom gets home. She'll kill me if I don't." Kain stood up, with some trouble, and limped towards the door. "You are free to stay here, if you'd like, or you could go home or something."

"Can I come with you?" Lilly asked, getting to her feet.

"No. I would be faster if I went alone."

Lilly snorted. " _You'd_ be faster?" she asked, obviously thinking about his crippled leg.

"Yes. I would, actually."

"Clarify."

Kain rolled his eyes behind his shades. "Listen, I have my reasons. Either stay here, or go home." With that, the teenager opened the front door and exited as quickly as possible.

"Some people are just so stubborn," he muttered to himself as he limped a few feet away from his house. Scanning the streets, he came to the realization that it was dark outside. _What time is it?_

Grumbling, Kain shuffled back into the house and walked to the main room. Ignoring Lilly's stare, he took a look at the clock. _Eight. EIGHT… Where_ is _she?  
_

Kain took a deep breath and looked at Lilly. "Are you leaving or not?"

"I think I will stay a while," she replied, falling back into the leather couch.

"Fine. Follow me, then. I will show you the guest room; you can stay there for the night."

Kain limped past the couches and headed down a hallway, flicking on a light switch to illuminate his path as he did so. Passing by the kitchen, he turned into the doorway on the left and opened it. "Here."

He watched as Lilly entered the room and turned on the light. There was a ceiling fan, and a bed which had white sheets. The room was neat, and there was a small window upon the wall at the head of the bed.

"Cool, thanks," Lilly said. Just then, her phone began to ring and she looked ruefully up at Kain before pulling it out and answering the call.

"Hello?" She paused as the person on the other end spoke. "Oh, okay. Yes… I will be over as soon as possible." Hanging up, she looked back at Kain and sighed. "I… I have to go," she said.

Kain shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, well. See you later, I suppose," he said, stepping out of the way so that Lilly could pass him.

The silver-haired teenager trotted past Kain, down the hallway, past the kitchen, and towards the main door. "Bye!" she squeaked quickly as she exited the Hayes' household.

Sighing, Kain flicked off all the lights and headed towards the main room. Falling back onto the brown, leather couch, he gazed back up at the clock. Eight thirty. _Time sure does fly… I will find Faith later,_ he reassured himself. Closing his tired eyes, the teenage boy drifted into a light sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Lilly walked down the lamp-lit streets. Glancing around at all of the houses, she absentmindedly wondered what time it was. Speeding up, she hurried down an alleyway.

"I think he said that it was nearby here…" Lilly muttered to herself. Walking slowly over to a manhole, she sighed and lifted to sewer lid. _Why do I have to go in the_ sewers? _Why couldn't it have been somewhere else…? Like in a building,_ she thought as she slithered down the metal ladder.

As she quickly walked through the sewers, Lilly thought of what she had been told to do.

 _"_ _It will be somewhere in the sewers. You will be looking for five mutants, four of which live in your destination. The other one's whereabouts we are not sure of, yet. Befriend them; have them trust you, and then report back here."  
_

Lilly had spent an hour or so searching for the right place. That was tiring. But Lilly was not going to give up yet.

"Where's this place supposed to be…?" Lilly asked herself. "'Somewhere in the sewers'. That's all he said… Helpful."

After walking through the sewers for what seemed like hours, Lilly was about to give up. "Oh, I quit! This is too hard! He could have been more specific, more helpful, but was he? No."

 _"_ _Well, you've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"_

Lilly whipped around when the unfamiliar voice rang through her ears. "Who are you?" she asked hostilely, her gray eyes darting around suspiciously.

There was silence for a moment before the masculine voice responded. "I think I should be asking you that."

"Please, it's not like you _live_ here or something," Lilly snorted.

"You know what's ironic? I actually _do_ live down here."

Lilly's eyes narrowed. "Oh? Why would you want to do that?"

"For… Reasons..."

"Do you live with anyone?" Lilly demanded.

The ever elongating silence continued to drag on before the voice said, "I might. Now, how about you leave? It isn't safe down here."

Lilly stood her ground. "I'm fine here, actually; I'm looking for something. To my knowledge, I am allowed to do that."

"What is it that you are looking for? I may be able to help you. I do know my way around, after all."

It was Lilly's turn to allow the silence to continue. _Should I trust him? He_ does _live here… Or, so he says. What's the worst that could happen?_ Taking a deep breath, Lilly said, "Well, I'm looking for people who live here."

"I don't think you'll find many of those."

"I found you, didn't I?"

"…I see your point."

Lilly began to grow impatient. "Alright, can you help me or not?"

"Of course I can help you. Would you like me to tell you what's best for you?"

"Maybe," Lilly grumbled.

"Okay. Leave."

"NO. I'm not going until I found what I'm looking for!"

The owner of the voice did not reply, but instead, he stepped out of the shadows. "I still think it would be better for you to leave."

Lilly took a step back and studied the figure. It seemed to be a large, man-sized turtle. It wore a blue bandana and had twin katana strapped to the back of its shell.

"How old are you?" The question flew out of Lilly's mouth without her intending it to.

The blue-masked mutant smiled and looked at Lilly curiously. "I am fifteen," he said, slowly. "Are you going to leave, or do I have to make you go?"

Lilly slowly took a few steps back. She did not want to be ushered out of the sewers by a giant turtle. "I will leave, if you tell me one thing."

"What might that be?"

"Your name."

After a moment of hesitation, he said, quickly, "Leonardo."

"Well, _Leonardo_ , I will most likely see you around. I'll be back to find what I came for, I'm sure. Maybe then you will be more cooperative and give me a bit of useful advice." Lilly turned away and began to walk down back the way she came. Stopping briefly to look over her shoulder, she said, "I'm Lilly, by the way," before she hurried away from the mutant. _Did I befriend him? Maybe not. Did I get enough information to work with at the moment? Most likely._


	7. Chapter 7

Faith awoke with a start and looked around the room wildly. "Kain?" she asked, her eyes glittering with confusion. Once she realized that she was in Michelangelo's room, she sighed and calmed down. "Mikey?"

There was no reply.

Faith stood up from the bed and scanned the dark room. It seemed to be empty. The brunette headed towards the door and opened it quietly. She crept out of the room and headed down the hallway. _This is the way to the main room, right?_

"Lost?"

A quiet gasp escaped Faith's lips and she turned around to see Raphael standing behind her.

"Raph! Um… No, I-I know where I'm going," she stuttered.

"Are you sure? You look like you have no clue what's going on," Raph said, his green eyes glittering with amusement.

"And you look like you're finding it funny."

"Right," Raph muttered, looking away from Faith. "Come on, I'll show you where the others are."

Faith followed Raph, keeping her gaze on the ground. For some reason, she still felt a bit uncomfortable around the red-masked turtle. _I'm fine with everyone else, though…_ Faith thought. _Maybe it's just that he's not an 'I want to be everyone's friend' type of person._

"You're up." Faith tore her gaze from the ground and stared up at the tallest turtle, Donatello. She was inches from him and had not realized that she was about to ram right into him.

"Oh. Yes… Um… I was trying to find my way here and then Raph found me," Faith said, taking a step back.

"She was lost," Raph explained.

"No! I mean… Fine, maybe I was a _little_ lost…" Faith said.

"There's no shame in that." Faith turned to see Leonardo entering the room.

"Where have you been?" Donnie asked curiously.

Leo sat down onto the couch and leaned back against it. "I was just taking a walk around the sewers," he explained. "Only, I found someone—a girl. She was asking all of these questions. She said that her name is Lilly."

Faith's eyes widened. " _Lilly?_ " she asked.

"Yeah, why?" Leo asked, sitting up and looking at Faith.

"Did she have silver hair? And gray eyes? Was she fourteen? Was she quiet? Thoughtful?"

"She did have silver hair and gray eyes, yes. I don't know how old she was, but I suppose she was about fourteen; she wasn't very quiet, though. She was actually more of the confronting type," Leo replied.

"Oh… That sounds like someone I know, except for the personality, that is…" Faith said, quietly.

Donnie looked at Leo. "What did she want?"

"She said she was looking for someone."

"Who?" Faith asked.

"I don't know. She just said _someone."_

"Oh…" There was silence for a while before Faith remembered about Kain. "I need to call my brother…" She pulled out her phone and took a quick look at the time. _Nine in the morning? Oh, well…_ Hurriedly dialing in Kain's number, she waited for him to pick up. It rang once, twice, three times, four times, and then he finally answered.

 _"Hello?"_ His voice was groggy and Faith guessed that she woke him up.

"Hi, Kain."

Leo, Raph, and Donnie sat silently and watched Faith.

 _"Faith? Where are you?"_

"Don't worry, I'm with some friends," Faith said, reassuringly.

 _"Who? Is one of them Lilly?"_

"No…It's—" Faith was cut off by Mikey when he entered the room.

"Hey, Faith! You're up!"

 _"Who is that?"_ Kain obviously heard Mikey and did not recognize his voice.

"A friend," Faith said plainly into the phone. Adding in a louder voice, she said, "Good morning, Mikey!"

 _"Mikey? Faith, where are you?"_ Kain's voice was full of anxiety.

"I'm with friends!" Faith said. "Did you not hear me the first ten times?"

"You only said it twice," Donnie butted in.

"I know, Donnie…"

 _"Donnie? FAITH. What is going on?"_

"Guys… Leo…" Faith started, ignoring Kain as he tried to tell her to explain everything. "Can't I tell him about you, please? Just him? If I don't, he's going to keep freaking out."

 _"I don't 'freak out'."_

Leo stayed silent for a moment before exchanging a glance with Donnie, who did not give any input. "Okay, Faith. But just your brother, nobody else."

"Thank you!" Faith sighed in relief. "Okay, Kain. I am in the sewers. With—this will sound _crazy_ , but it's true-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, see. I found them yesterday when I was exploring a bit. And then I ended up spending the night. I'm sorry, I should have called you and told you last night, but I was tired and you're not even supposed to be hearing any of this… Don't tell Mom…"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line before Kain spoke. _"This is serious, Faith. Where are you really?"_

"I'm not lying! You have to believe me!" Faith protested.

 _"I don't think I do."_

"That's why you need to…"

 _"Listen, Faith, I don't have time for this. Tell me where you are so I can come pick you up."_

"Fine, if you're going to be that way…" Faith muttered. "I'm in the sewers." She hung up.

"Whoa…" Mikey said quietly.

"What?" Faith asked, putting away her phone. "He wasn't listening to me. He was ignoring me and all that he was saying was to tell the truth. I answered his question—I told him where I was, it's not my fault if he didn't believe me—and then I hung up on him."

"You mean that if my brothers aren't listening to me, I can just ignore them?" Mikey asked, smiling brightly.

"It doesn't work that way…" Leo said as Raph slapped Mikey across the back of the head.

Faith looked around the room. "I might have to leave, soon… Kain's worried about me, and he'll be coming to look for me, after a while."

"But—" Mikey protested.

"She already stayed the night, what more do you want?" Raph asked, throwing himself onto the couch.

"I will be back, if Leo's alright with that," Faith said reassuringly to Michelangelo.

"Of course I am. Maybe next time you can meet our sensei," Leo said.

Faith smiled. "That sounds great. I can't wait to come back…"

"You didn't even leave, yet…" Raph grumbled.

Leo shot a look at Raph before he said, "Come back whenever you want, we'll always welcome you, here."

"Okay, thanks guys. See you soon," Faith said, beginning to leave the sewers.

"Aww… Bye…"

"Talk to you later."

"See you soon."

"Take care."

Faith smiled sadly. She hated to have to go, but she knew that Kain would worry even more if she stayed any longer. "Bye, dudes. Have pizza ready for when I come back." With that, Faith exited the lair of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.


	8. Chapter 8

Kain paced back and forth in the living room. Around and around in a circle he limped, muttering to himself.

"Oh, darn it! Why is Faith so stubborn?" he growled.

"I don't know," Lilly, who had come back soon after she left, said from her spot on the leather sofa.

Kain snorted. "Well, it's annoying. She needs to stop being…" His voice trailed off.

"Being..?"

"Being… Faith. She needs to stop being Faith. She needs to quit acting as though it's alright to just run home alone all of the time. What if she got kidnapped? Oh, she probably did. Now she's probably going to get seriously injured, or maybe even killed. And she—"

"CHILL OUT," Lilly said, raising her voice.

 _She_ _did_ not _just yell at me._ Kain grumbled something quietly about Lilly being rude and sat down on the other couch.

After a minute or two of silence, there was a rap on the door and Kain scrambled to his feet once more. Limping over to the door, he silently prayed that he would open it to find Faith. As he took a deep breath, Kain reached a trembling hand out to the doorknob and grasped it tightly. He turned his hand slowly and closed his eyes, fearing that who was on the other side of the door would not be his sister.

"KAIN!"

Kain's heartbeat sped up as the familiar voice rang through his ears. He was then engulfed into a hug. At this point, Kain's eyes had flown open beneath his shades and he was staring blankly down at his sister.

"Faith…" he said quietly, taking a step back away from her.

"I'm sorry."

Kain did not want an apology at the moment. "Don't be… Really, don't. It's fine," he said quickly.

"I should've told you, though. I really should have told you," Faith said, rambling on about how she should not have kept her whereabouts a secret.

" _No._ Calm down. It's fine, honestly."

"Faith?" Lilly's voice rang out as she peered around the corner.

"Lilly! You're here!" Faith said, bouncing over to her friend.

"Yes, I am. Where have you been?"

"Oh, I stayed with some friends," Faith said, excitedly.

Lilly tilted her head to one side. "Who were they?"

"Just some really awesome dudes I met last night."

"You met them and then spent the night with them? They could have been dangerous, you shouldn't just jump to the conclusion that everything's safe so quickly, Faith."

Kain rolled his eyes and he quietly listened to the girls' conversation. Slowly, he walked over to the main room once more and sat down onto the couch, perching his right leg onto the coffee table.

The teenagers' voices echoed around the house and Kain sighed. _Girls are annoying,_ he thought to himself.

Lilly poked her head around the corner and said, "Hey, Kain, I've gotta go, I'll be back later, bye."

"Uh… Bye," Kain said, looking at the silver-haired girl. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave. _Was she… Blushing?_ he wondered silently.

Faith trotted over to the couch and sat down next to Kain.

"Can you tell me more about these guys you were hanging out with?" Kain asked, looking at his sister.

He could have sworn he heard a sigh escape Faith's mouth. Nonetheless, she nodded her head.

"Okay. I'll tell you."


	9. Chapter 9

_The streets are too wet,_ Lilly thought. _This isn't fair. Why can't someone_ else _do this? I want to go play video games with Faith…  
_

Lilly thought about what she had been told to do.

 _"_ _Training. It is important that you keep your skills sharp," she had been told.  
_

 _"_ _But… Alright; what do I need to do?" Lilly had asked, sullenly.  
_

 _"_ _Running; you can do combat training later."  
_

 _"_ _Okay. Be back later."  
_

Lilly ran around a corner, swiveling around a pole as she did so. She began to wonder if her mission had been forgotten by everybody else.

 _No. That's not possible.  
_

"How long have I been doing this?" she asked herself. Beginning to grow tired, she paused as her cell rang again.

"Hello?" she asked as she picked up.

 _"Lilly,"_ the familiar, deep voice said.

"Yes?"

 _"Have you finished your training?"_

"I think so," Lilly said. "I did all you told me to."

 _"Good. Now, it is time to work on your mission."_

"So I need to go back into the sewers and look for them, now?" Lilly asked.

 _"Yes. Search for them as much as possible,"_ the voice said before the man on the other end hung up. Lilly sighed and got to it.

Walking down the familiar road, Lilly turned into the alleyway and headed straight to the manhole. She lifted it silently and slipped down the metal ladder. Pausing, the teenager tried to remember where she had gone the last time she was there. Sighing, Lilly closed her eyes and tried to picture a layout of the sewers.

Footsteps broke into her train of thought. They were quiet, but still audible. Opening her eyes, Lilly pinpointed where the sound was coming from. She turned, her gray eyes skimming across the environment.

A figure, somewhere in the shadows, made the slightest movement, and Lilly caught it. Reaching for her pocket, she pulled out the knife that she always carried with her. Normally, she had Katana Blades, but she could not afford dragging those around with her everywhere.

Lilly quickly dashed forward and towards where she saw the motion. The figure sidestepped out of the way, and Lilly quickly halted, turning to lay her cold gaze upon it.

 _"_ _What are you doing here?"_ The voice was cool and suggested that the owner of it would not be afraid to fight.

"I do not see how that's _your_ business," Lilly replied, using the same threatening tone as the stranger.

There was a low growl from the figure, and Lilly soon found herself on the ground, facing up. She was glaring up into deep, green eyes, which were full of suspicion.

"Who are you?" the figure asked, refusing to unpin Lilly from the ground.

"I think I should be asking you that. _I_ was simply walking through the sewers, minding my own business, and you decided to come bully me. That's not a good way to make friends," Lilly said.

The form growled. "You were walking through the _sewers._ What are you doing down here?" he demanded.

"What's the problem, Raph?" An all-too-familiar voice made the figure restraining Lilly look up.

"I was asking this… _Person…_ what she is doing here," the one called 'Raph' retorted.

"Let her up. I'll handle it."

Raph grumbled and glared icily down at Lilly before he stood up and narrowed his eyes, which did not stray from the teenager on the ground.

The second figure began to walk cautiously over to Lilly. He stood tall, holding his head high as he strode over to her. At once, Lilly knew who it was. Leonardo.

Leo's eyes widened as he came to realize who Lilly was. "Lilly?"

Lilly sat up and got to her feet, brushing off the shoulder of her black t-shirt. "Hello, Leonardo," she said, placidly.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked.

"You _know_ her?" Raph demanded.

"Er… Lilly, Raphael; Raphael, Lilly," Leo said, looking from the red clad turtle to Lilly as he introduced each of them to the other.

"Oh, so not only do you know her… But you're also _friends_ with her?" Raph growled.

Leonardo shot an 'ignore him' look to Lilly, who smiled and nodded her head. _Leonardo can't be one of the ones that I'm looking for… How could_ he _be our enemy?  
_

"Um… Leonardo?" Lilly asked. She decided that it would be best to not use any nicknames, such as 'Leo'. Maybe that way she would only stay acquaintances with him; then if she could not be his friend forever, it would hurt less to betray him.

"Yes?"

"I… Never mind…" Lilly's voice was no more than a whisper. "I'll just… I'm going to go."

"You could probably—"

"No, I'm going to go."

"O-Okay… See you around," Leo stammered.

"Come _on,_ Leo," Raph rumbled impatiently.

Leo sighed. "Alright, Raph, let's go." He led the way back to wherever the two were going; only pausing once to look back at Lilly before he disappeared from sight.


	10. Chapter 10

Faith stared blankly at Kain's black shades. She had finished telling him all about the night before. Well… She had left out one major detail—the fact that her new friends were mutant turtles.

"Why would you stay with them? They could have killed you!" Kain began ranting on.

"I stayed with them because they were nice. They didn't kill me, so what's the problem?" Faith asked. _Why can he not see that they are friends?  
_

"How do you know they were nice?"

"Um… Because they didn't kill me or try to injure me in any way…"

"What about the first one?" Kain snorted.

"Raph? Oh, he's just protective of his family. He's a _softy_ ," Faith beamed, not finding this friendship harmful at all.

Kain snorted. He obviously was not amused by any of this. As Faith sighed, her cell phone began to ring. Tilting her head to one side, she pulled it out and answered it.

"Hello?"

 _"_ _Hey, Faith, it's Leo. Your friend Lilly just showed up again."  
_

"She did? What does she want?" Faith asked, her eyes widening.

 _"_ _I don't know,"_ Leo sighed, " _Raph found her. She didn't say much. She just left now."  
_

Faith sighed. "Okay, I'll call her."

" _Alright, thanks."  
_

"Talk to you soon," Faith said, hanging up the phone.

"What was that?" Kain demanded.

Faith rolled her eyes."It was Leo. He was talking to me about Lilly. You need to shush now for a minute while I call her."

Kain did not say anything else, but he kept a close eye on Faith.

Faith dialed Lilly's number and waited. It rang countless times, and just when Faith was about to hang up, someone on the other line picked up.

"Lilly. What gives? It rang like… A hundred times," Faith said.

 _"_ _Hello?"_ A masculine voice spoke.

"Um… I'm guessing you're not Lilly…"

 _"_ _No, I'm not."  
_

"Oh, sorry; I must've dialed the wrong number. Sorry 'bout that."

" _No worries."  
_

Faith sighed and hung up the phone.

"How did you dial the wrong number?" Kain snorted.

"I don't know. I'll try again," Faith said, dialing in Lilly's number for the second time.

"Why do you need to call her, anyway?" Kain asked.

"I'm helping Leo with something," Faith said distractedly. After one ring, the other end picked up.

"Lilly?"

 _"_ _No…"  
_

Faith groaned. _It's the_ same _person!_ "Sorry, I don't know how I got the wrong number… _Again…"_

The man on the other end chuckled. " _Don't worry about it."_ He sounded kind, while at the same time, he sounded as though he was not as nice as he seemed to be.

"Sorry, again," Faith said, hanging up once more. "GOSH," she grumbled. "How did I get wrong number _again?_ And not only that, but it was the _same person…"  
_

"I don't think you got the wrong number," Kain said.

"What? Well, then, what happened?" Faith asked, confusion building up inside her.

Kain stayed silent for a moment before he finally spoke. "I…" his voice trailed off.

"Tell me what you're thinking, Kain."

"She's adopted, isn't she?"

"Yeah…"

"So, maybe it's her adopted father, or a sibling, or anyone else she lives with," Kain said with a shrug.

"I don't know, maybe," Faith said, standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"I've gotta talk to Leo. I'll be back," she replied, hurrying out the door before Kain could object.


	11. Chapter 11

Kain sat on the sofa, dumbfounded. _She's_ always _running off like that,_ he thought. He shook his head and sighed.

"Why doesn't Faith just call Leo instead of running off to go see him again?" he asked himself. Yawning, Kain looked up at the clock. Three o'clock in the afternoon. _I suppose a little nap wouldn't hurt._

Kain laid down, sprawling himself across the couch, and closed his eyes. He quickly fell into a light sleep.

/

Kain woke up to his cell phone ringing. He rubbed his head and blinked multiple times, staring around the room. His vision was blurry, but it did not surprise him; that always happened to him right after he woke up. After a moment of trying to find his phone, Kain answered the call.

"Hello?"

 _"Kain, why did it take you so long to pick up?"_

"L-Lilly?" he asked, still half-asleep.

 _"Yes, where's Faith?"_

"She went to go see her friend, Leo."

 _"Leonardo?"_

Kain blinked. "You know him?"

"Faith _knows him?"_

"Yeah, he and his brothers are all she ever talks about now. You didn't know they were friends?"

 _"No."_

Kain snorted. "Well, she _did_ just meet him last night. That's apparently who she spent the night with…"

 _"You mean there's more?"_

"More _what,_ exactly? _"_

 _"More mutant things."_

"What are you talking about? What mutant things?" Kain asked.

 _"Faith didn't tell you that Leonardo is a mutant turtle thing?"_

"What? No!" Kain yelled. Why did Faith not mention this? "I have to go for a bit, Lilly, I'll call you back."

 _"You will?"_

"Yes, yes, bye." Kain hung up and immediately dialed in Faith's number. It was three or four rings before she answered.

 _"Hey."_ Faith's voice was cheery, as usual.

"Faith," Kain said sternly.

 _"What?"_

"Why didn't you tell me that they are mutants?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment. _"Um… I didn't tell you?"_

 _"_ No, you seemed to have… Oh, I don't know… Forgot that part somehow!" Kain growled.

 _"Geez, listen, dude; I'm sorry, okay?"_

"It is most certainly _not_ okay! You get away from them. Don't talk to them anymore, do you understand me?"

 _"But—"_

"No."

Faith sighed. _"Fine,"_ she said, hanging up.

Kain's sides heaved as he sighed deeply. He dialed Lilly's number again, and she picked up immediately.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hey, Lilly."

 _"What did she say?"_

"She said that she _forgot_ to mention it," Kain mumbled.

 _"Did she think that you would not approve or something?"_ Lilly asked.

"I don't know," Kain sighed. "I don't think so. She doesn't really care if I approve of something or not."

 _"Oh… Hey, listen, I gotta go, I'll talk to you again later, okay?"_

"Okay," Kain murmured, hanging up.

Kain laid down once more "Why is she so stubborn..?" He sighed. _I'll go and find her.._. _Right after I wake up..._ Closing his eyes, Kain slowly drifted into a deep sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Lilly sat alone on the bed in her dimmed room. _Faith knows Leonardo, then? Oh, this is great. What's she going to think if I have to betray him in any way?_ She pulled out her cell phone and dialed in the number that she now knew like the back of her hand.

 _"_ _Lilly?"  
_

"Yes, hi, I have a question about my mission."

 _"_ _Are you thinking about not doing it? Because if you are, you know that-"  
_

"The boss will be angry, I know; I just want to ask if one of the people I am looking for is named Leonardo."

 _"_ _Why are you asking?"  
_

"Oh, 'cause if it is, I may have met him."

 _"_ _Yes, I believe one of their names is Leonardo."  
_

"Okay, thanks," Lilly said, hanging up. _Oh, no. Faith will be upset…_ The silver-haired teenager sighed and stood up. She crossed the room and swung open the door. _A little walk never killed anyone._

Lilly exited the building in which she lived and leisurely walked around the streets, having no particular destination. Entering a large field, she looked up at the night sky. She approached and sat down upon a park bench, studying the stars.

Lilly sighed and examined the rooftops. She did not know why, but they seemed incredibly interesting at the moment. Her curiosity skyrocketed when she caught a glimpse of four figures leaping from building to building. As she continued to watch, Lilly noticed a fifth figure following them, but it was lagging behind.

Unable to hold in her interest any longer, Lilly got to her feet and tried to pinpoint a building that they may come across. Bolting forward, she began to climb a large building as though she did this everyday—and she did.

When Lilly reached the top of the building, she began to hear voices from the figures as they grew closer.

"Dudes, this is awesome! I need to bring my skateboard on every patrol!"

"It's a bit loud…"

"Yes, and ninjas are quick and _silent._ "

Lilly waited where she was. The figures progressed closer and closer until they were right in front of her.

"Lilly?" one of them asked.

"Hello, Leonardo," Lilly said, tilting her head to one side. "Are… These guys your brothers?" she asked, motioning to the other three figures.

"Yeah…" Leo said. "You've met Raphael," he nodded towards the muscular, turtle, who was wearing a red bandana and had twin sais. "This is Donatello and Michelangelo." Leo gestured to a tall turtle who wore a purple bandana and had a Bo Staff strapped to the back of his shell and a short, orange-masked turtle who owned Nunchuku.

"Nice to meet you," Lilly said, dipping her head, politely. _  
_

"Hey… Guys… Y-You go too fast." a feminine voice panted as the fifth figure approached. The girl stopped dead in her tracks, staring blankly at Lilly.

"Hi, Faith," Lilly said, forcing herself to remain calm.

" _Lilly?_ " Faith asked, her eyes widening.

"You two know each other?" Leo asked, looking from Faith to Lilly.

"Yeah, we've known each other for, like, two years, now," Faith said, beaming.

Lilly shrugged her shoulders and said, "We're friends."

Faith nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I'd better go…" Lilly said, turning away. "It was good seeing you again, Leonardo, and you too, Raphael. As for you, Donatello and Michelangelo, it was nice meeting you." She then bolted off, not allowing anybody any time to protest.


	13. Chapter 13

Faith panted as she followed the Turtles down into the lair.

"O-Okay… No more patrols for me. Not like that one, anyway," she stammered, flopping herself onto the couch.

Leo quickly slipped off into a different room, while Donnie headed to his lab, Raph trotted over to their arcade game, and Mikey bolted through another doorway.

Once she had caught her breath, Faith stood up and strode over to Raph's side. "Where did everyone go?" she asked, looking around the room.

"Well, Leo probably went off to go train and Donnie's in his lab… Mikey's either playing a video game or eating," Raph said, distractedly.

Faith nodded her head. She was beginning to figure out all the little things about the Turtles.

A girl—a redhead—walked into the room.

"Hi, Raph," she said, sitting down onto the couch. Faith figured that the girl probably had not noticed her, yet.

"Hey, April," Raph said, still focused on the game that he was playing.

The girl, obviously called 'April', looked over at Raphael and spotted Faith. "Who's that?"

"That's Faith."

"Yup; I'm Faith." Faith saw Raph roll his eyes and she smiled. She was fine with people being annoyed with her. After April did not reply, Faith tried to start up a conversation. "And…you're April, right?"

April nodded her head. "Yeah."

Mikey entered the room and burst out, "Does anyone want to try my latest creation?"

Raph sighed and stepped away from his game. "No, nobody wants to try whatever you've made this time," he grumbled.

Faith gave Raph a look before smiling at Mikey. "Depends," she said, tilting her head, "what is it?"

"It's—" Mikey started, but Raph cut him off.

"Disgusting."

"No it's not!" Mikey protested.

"Did _you_ try it?" Raph asked.

"No…"

Raph rolled his eyes. "Then how do you know it's any good?"

Mikey looked thoughtfully at his creation before he shrugged and shoved it into his mouth. He stayed silent for a moment before spitting it out and taking a step back.

"That's nasty…" he grumbled.

Faith burst out laughing so hard that she nearly fell down. "Oh… I-I'm sorry, M-Mikey… It-It's not this funny…" she choked, trying to calm herself down.

Mikey looked down at his creation, which he had spit all over the floor.

"S-Sorry," Faith stammered, still shaking with laughter. She got her balance back and trotted to the kitchen, grabbing a towel. _Oh, Mikey…_ she thought, smiling. Strolling back to the main room, Faith bent down a wiped up Mikey's creation. She had a habit of cleaning up other people's messes without realizing it.

Mikey watched her for a moment before bolting away towards the kitchen and coming back with a box of pizza. He sat down onto to the couch and began wolfing down the pizza.

Faith stood up and stared around for a moment, wondering where to put the towel. Shrugging, she raced into the bathroom and set it in the sink before returning to the main room and sitting down next to Mikey on the couch.

"Can… I have some?" she asked.

Mikey stopped eating for a moment and looked from the pizza to Faith. "But…" he protested, his voice muffled by the pizza in his mouth.

"Please?"

Michelangelo stared down at his pizza for a moment before sighing and passing a slice to Faith, who nodded her thanks and ate it gratefully.

Faith leaned back against the couch after her pizza was gone and closed her eyes.

"Faith, do you want to meet our sensei, now?" Leo asked as he poked his head around the corner.

"Sure," Faith said, sitting up.

"Okay." Leo left the room again for a moment, and Raph took a seat next to Faith on the couch.

"Is your sensei… Nice?" Faith asked, looking at Raph uneasily. Now that she thought about it, she did not know if she liked the idea of meeting the person who trained Raphael.

Raph shrugged his shoulders as Leo stepped back into the room, followed by a giant, mutant rat.

Faith could now hear the blood rushing through her ears. Her heart rate increased and her muscles tensed. _He looks so… Not exactly scary, but more of… I don't know…_ Faith thought. She edged closer to Mikey, who looked at her quizzically. She gave him an apologetic look, and he simply shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a phone that looked like a turtle shell.

"Faith, it is nice to finally meet you," The giant rat addressed her.

"N-Nice to meet you, too," Faith stammered, wishing that she did not sound as scared as she was feeling.

The rat smiled warmly. "I am Master Splinter," he introduced himself, curtly nodding as he did so.

Faith bowed her head briefly and kept her gaze locked on the ground.

Splinter took a few steps forward. "Leonardo has told me a lot about you. He says that you spend an excessive amount of time here," he said.

"Oh… Um… Yeah," Faith said, glancing at Leo, who nodded towards Splinter. "I just met your… Um… Sons… Last night, but… I have been spending much time here since then." _Just… TALK to him, Faith! You're making it more difficult than it really is!  
_

"I see," Splinter said, calmly. He glanced around at his sons before looking back at Faith.

 _Stop staring!_ Faith thought. She did not like it when others watched her, especially not when she already was startled by them. "Um…" Faith said, awkwardly. _What am I supposed to say to a giant rat?_

Splinter chuckled and walked over to Faith, placing a hand on her shoulder. The teenager winced slightly and looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "I do not mean any harm," he said in a calm, reassuring voice.

Faith's gaze locked with Splinter's and her fear suddenly disappeared. _He's not… Terrible… There's nothing wrong with him. He's just… Different… But not really in a bad way.  
_

Faith began to feel guilty. She had been afraid of him, first because she did not know what to expect, but then because of his looks. She did not normally judge others by their appearances, but she was not sure what to think anymore; ever since the day before, her life had not exactly been normal. Faith sighed and dropped her gaze.

"It was nice meeting you, Faith. I must go back to my meditation," Splinter said, turning to go back towards what Faith presumed was his room.

"Nice meeting you too," she said, watching him leave.

Once Splinter was out of the main room, Faith examined the area. Everybody was staring at her. "What?" she asked, looking at each of them.

"You just… Froze up," Mikey said.

"Yeah, what was that about?" Leo asked, walking over to stand in front of Faith.

Faith sighed and looked at the ground. "I don't know. I just… I just got scared."

"Hey." Leo's voice coaxed Faith to look back up. "Everyone gets scared, don't worry about it." He patted Faith on the head before walking away and exiting the room.

Faith blinked. _Everyone gets scared…_ "What about Raphie?"

"Don't call me that," Raph growled.

"You're scared of something, aren't you? What is it?" Faith asked, ignoring Raph's remark.

"I'm not scared of anything."

Faith looked at Mikey silently and nudged him. He looked up from the game he was now playing on his phone. "What?"

"Raphie is trying to tell me that he isn't scared of anything."

Mikey shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think I've ever seen him get scared of anything."

"But, Raphie has—" Faith started, but Raph cut her off.

"Don't. Call. Me. That," he fumed, standing up.

Faith looked up at him. "It fits you," she said, smiling innocently.

"It doesn't," Raph growled, taking a step towards Faith.

The teenager stood up and looked at him. "I know, that's why it's perfect for you," she said, taking a step away from Raphael.

Raph looked as though he was about to explode.

"Um, I'm going to go… That way," Faith said, edging away from Raph and gesturing towards the nearest doorway. "You stay there." She bolted off and raced into a different room, slamming the door behind her.

"What's wrong?"

Faith twirled around to see Donnie standing behind her. He was wearing goggles and he held some sort of tool.

"Oh… Uh… Nothing, I just…" Faith stammered. She sighed, irritated with herself. "Sorry for disturbing you…"

Donnie shrugged, setting down his tool. "What's going on out there?" he asked, pulling his goggles up onto his forehead.

"I met your sensei," Faith said, shrugging. "He's pretty cool."

"Yet you ran away?"

"No! I mean, yes. I did run away; but not from him. I ran from Raph."

Donnie sighed. He murmured something to himself that sounded much like 'I should've known' before asking in a louder voice, "What did he do this time?"

"Well…" Faith shuffled her feet. "I sort of did something, too. I mean, he lost his temper… But that's 'cause I called him 'Raphie'."

"He doesn't much like that nickname," Donnie said, shrugging. He grabbed his tool and adjusted his goggles before heading back to whatever he was working on.

"I noticed." Faith looked around. "Is this your lab?"

"Mhm," Donnie murmured, distractedly.

"Oh, well, it's cool," she said.

"Thanks."

"Yup. I'm gonna go see if Raphie is still angry."

"He will be if you keep calling him that."

"Yes, yes, I'll try to get out of the habit. Talk to you later, Donnie," Faith said, hurrying out of his lab.


	14. Chapter 14

Kain was jostled awake by someone shaking his shoulder furiously. "Wha-?" he asked, blinking at gazing around.

"Kain! _Gosh,_ I thought you were _dead_ or something."

"Lilly?" Kain asked, sitting up and rubbing the side of his head. "How did you get in here?"

"I walked through the front door; it was unlocked," Lilly said, shrugging and sitting back.

 _Someone needs to learn to knock…  
_

"Has anyone ever told you that lavender fits you well?" she asked after a moment, staring deeply into Kain's eyes.

"What?" he asked. He slowly brought his hand up to his face, patting in and coming to the realization that his glasses were no longer there. "Where are my shades?" he demanded.

"Um… I don't know," Lilly replied, dropping her gaze.

"LILLY," Kain growled.

Lilly sighed and reached behind her, drawing out Kain's black sunglasses and handing them to him.

Kain hurriedly swiped them back and set them over his eyes once more. "Why did you take them?"

"You're always wearing them!" Lilly said, "I wanted to know what your eyes look like…"

Kain sighed. He did not like the fact that Lilly had simply removed his glasses while he was sleeping only so that she could see his eyes. It was true that he always wore them, but he had a reason to. "Whatever. You've seen them now. What do you need?"

Lilly sat up straighter. "I needed to tell you that I saw Faith with the Turtles."

" _What?_ I told her to leave them alone!" Kain growled.

"She didn't listen."

Anger and frustration boiled up inside Kain. _Why doesn't she listen to me?!_ "We need to find her," he muttered, decisively.

"I think I know where she is, follow me," Lilly said, grabbing hold of Kain's hand and dragging him out of the house.

"Lilly! Slow _down_!" Kain grumbled.

"Sorry… Just hurry up."

Kain did his best to keep up with the animated teenage girl. Finally, they turned down an alleyway and Lilly leapt right into a sewer. Her lack of cautiousness told Kain that she had probably done this before.

"Is that safe?" he asked, peering down into the manhole.

"Yup!" Lilly called up. "I've done it before, trust me!"

Kain sighed and lowered himself into the sewers, setting the lid back into its place as he did so.

"Come on, come on, it's this way!" Lilly said, racing down the tunnels.

Kain looked down at the sewage below him, disgusted. "You're running through sewage, you know that?" he asked, limping after Lilly and carefully picking his way around the mess of the sewers.

"Well, duh. We're in the _sewers_ ," Lilly called back, matter-of-factly.

Sooner than Kain had expected, the two came to a halt and Lilly looked around. "I think it's this way," she said, gesturing to a tunnel to their left.

"What do you mean you _think?_ " Kain asked gruffly.

"I mean what I said," Lilly stated distractedly as she headed down the tunnel.

"You mean that you don't know where we're going?"

"Um…Well, I haven't exactly been _to_ their home…"

"WHAT? How do you even know it's down here, then?" Kain growled, limping up to Lilly.

Lilly's pace quickened and she said, "Well, because Leonardo told me that they lived down here when I first met him."

Kain sighed. He figured that fighting Lilly was pointless, and stopped arguing. He prayed silently that they were going the right way—for Lilly's sake. If she dragged him down here for nothing, he would kill her.


	15. Chapter 15

"See! _See!_ We _were_ going the right way!" Lilly said triumphantly as she led Kain through the sewers.

"How do you come to that conclusion?" Kain grumbled.

"SHHHHHHH. Don't you hear the voices?"

Kain was silent for a minute or two before he said, "I guess so."

"You know who you remind me of?" Lilly asked, suddenly.

"Who."

"My old companion, Hornet," Lilly said, thinking about her friend that she had not spoke to for years. "Oh, well… Dunno where that came from. I guess you just act like him or something."

Lilly shrugged it off as she led Kain towards the muffled voices. The two of them soon entered a room, where Lilly saw Raphael sitting upon the couch, and Michelangelo in front of the television set.

The orange-masked turtle looked up at the two standing in the doorway. "Hi!"

"Hello, Michelangelo," Lilly said, dipping her head.

"What are you doing here?" Raph demanded, striding over to look Lilly in the eyes.

Lilly did not flinch and she returned the cool glare that she received. "I am looking for my friend, Kain's sister, Faith."

"Faith?" Mikey asked, scrambling over.

"Hmm?" Lilly turned as she heard her friend's voice. Faith entered the room and froze, staring blankly at Kain. "Oh… Hi, Kain…"

"Hello, Faith," Kain said, obviously trying to keep his voice calm.

Mikey circled Lilly and Kain. He stopped next to the teenage boy and bent down, studying the unnatural way that he was standing. "What's wrong with your leg?" he asked, looking up at Kain.

Kain turned his head to look down at Mikey. Lilly guessed that he must have been angry... He did not like when people asked about his crippled leg.

"It's broken," Kain said, simply.

Mikey continued to look innocently up at Kain. "How'd it break?"

Kain was quiet after that. During this silence, Faith moved over next to Mikey and tapped his shoulder. He looked up at her and blinked quizzically.

"He doesn't like to talk about it," she whispered.

Kain sighed. "It's fine, Faith." His sister looked up at him before nodding and taking a step back. "I was hit by a car when I was younger," Kain said. His voice did not crack or shake; he seemed calm, and perfectly fine with talking about this.

 _He almost_ never _tells anyone about the car,_ Lilly thought. A look of awe crossed her face as she stared from Mikey to Kain.

Mikey looked at Kain's leg. "Does it hurt?" he asked, reaching a hand out to it.

Kain took a step away. "Sometimes."

"How often is that?" Mikey asked, tilting his head and looking up at Kain.

"Mikey, leave him alone." The familiar voice of Leonardo rang out.

"'Thought you were training or something, Leo," Faith called over to him.

"I was. Lilly, what are you doing here?"

Lilly blinked and fixed her gray eyes on the blue masked-turtle. "Greetings, Leonardo," she said, dipping her head slightly. Something about this turtle made Lilly want to be more formal than usual. "I came here with my friend, Kain, so that we could bring Faith back home."

" _What?_ " Faith asked, looking at Kain. "I don't want to go," she protested, a look of grief crossing her face immediately.

"You can't live here, Faith," Kain growled.

Faith muttered something to herself that sounded a lot like 'I don't care what you say.' She dropped her gaze and said, in a louder voice, "Sorry, guys. I guess I have to go…"

"But, why can't you stay?" Mikey asked, standing up and taking a step towards Faith.

"Kain doesn't want me to…"

Another girl then entered the sewers. "Hey, guys. Hey, Faith," she said, walking over to the group.

"Hi, April…" Faith said, dully.

"What's wrong? Who are they?" The girl named 'April' asked.

"I have to leave, and he's my bro, Kain, and she's my friend, Lilly," Faith explained.

April tilted her head. "Why do you have to go?"

"'Cause Kain said so…"

"I'll explain it later," Kain said, gruffly.

"Why can't you explain it now?" Faith asked.

That was the first time that Lilly wondered why Faith had to depart from her friends. "Yeah, Kain; why _does_ Faith have to leave?" she asked.

"Because it's nobody else's business," Kain said to Faith, obviously ignoring Lilly's question.

"He probably doesn't like you guys," Lilly heard Faith mutter to Michelangelo, who nodded his head and looked down dejectedly.

Kain observably heard Faith's statement because he said, "You're right! I don't! You know why, I've told you. But I am more disappointed in you than anything else. I told you not to stay here, yet you did."

"They're the best friends I've ever had!" Faith yelled to her brother. That statement left Lilly with one question; was she not Faith's best friend? _I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't like me,_ Lilly thought, miserably. _I've been leaving her a lot… But I have work to do, and training to complete. Does she not understand that? I sure hope she does… Even if my life has been thrown in a bramble patch recently, I hope we can still be friends. I hope—  
_

Lilly's train of thought was broken by the sound of Donatello entering the room. She looked around before dropping her gaze as she realized that she did not know what was going on anymore.

"Hey guys, I—Oh, He-hey, April," Donnie stammered once he became aware of April's presence.

April looked up and waved at him, but did not say anything. Faith was looking at the ground, and Kain was standing right before her. Even though he was wearing glasses, Lilly could tell that he was probably glaring at his sister.

Everybody else ignored Donnie's arrival.

"Let's _go,_ Faith!" Kain was shouting.

" _No!_ Leo! Tell him I don't want to go!" Faith said, stepping away from Kain.

"Lilly! Tell Faith that she's being stubborn!"

"Um…" Lilly mumbled, but nobody seemed to hear her.

"Donnie!" Faith cried, looking at the purple-masked turtle, who just stared blankly back at her. He seemed to be as lost as Lilly was. "Tell Kain that if he doesn't tell me why I have to leave, I don't have to!"

"Faith! Listen to yourself!" Kain growled.

"No, Kain! I don't want to go! Mikey, tell him I don't want to go…" Her voice dwindled as she ended her sentence.

Lilly stayed silent and studied the faces of those around her. Donatello was wearing the same expression she was—confusion. April had a look of pity upon her face; Lilly hated when people did that. Faith wore a look mixed between dejection and frustration. Raphael, who had been silent the whole time, was expressionless. Leonardo was quietly watching the argument, not giving any input whatsoever. Michelangelo sat next to Faith, trying to comfort her. Thanks to Kain's shades, Lilly could not read his expression, though she could almost feel the anger emitting from him in waves.

"Don't be stubborn, Faith," Kain sighed.

"I'm not…" Faith said. Her voice was quiet, and Lilly felt a bit bad for her.

 _I can't watch this anymore._ "I'm gonna go, guys…" Lilly said quickly. "See you around… Maybe…" With that, Lilly turned and rushed out of the Turtles' lair, not allowing anybody time to ask her what she was doing or why.


	16. Chapter 16

Faith sat still in the middle of everyone. She did not want to leave, so why did Kain want to force her to? Did he not care about how she felt? It just was not fair.

"Faith, seriously," Kain growled. Even though the shades covered his eyes, Faith could tell that her brother was seething with anger. She did not care. Why should she? Kain did not care about her, so why should she care for him?

"No, you seriously; why do I have to leave?"

"Because I said so, that's why."

"That isn't a good enough reason…" Faith muttered. She kept her gaze locked on the ground. She did not want anybody to see her like this. She did not enjoy being a drama queen, but in some situations, she could make an exception or two.

Kain sighed and did not say anything for a few moments. The room was almost dead-silent. Mikey sat next to Faith, trying to keep her calm, but she could barely tell he was there. It was almost as though she and Kain were the only ones in the room.

Faith did not know what to say. This was all so unfair. Why did she have to leave the ones that made her feel happy? It was Faith's turn to sigh. She understood that her brother wanted to keep her safe, but the Turtles were not dangerous in any way. Despite the fact that she loved it most where she was, Faith stood up and nodded to her brother. "Fine, I'll go."

"What? But, you can't! I didn't show you how to skateboard yet!"

"I was just beginning to warm up to her, too…"

"Even if she _is_ a bit reckless, she's good company in the lab for a change."

"Guys, this is her decision. We have to accept it."

"But Leo, you have to admit you don't want her to leave…"

The sudden outbursts from everyone in the room caused Faith to have a headache. She did not want to hear this; it only made it harder to go through with the decision her brother was forcing on her. Michelangelo continued to rant on about all of the activities they had not yet done together, while Raph and Donnie spoke in hushed voices; she could not hear what they were saying though. She decided to block them out. Leo tried to calm down the kerfuffle, but to no avail.

"Listen, dudes. I'm sorry…" Faith said. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she wiped it away. _You can't be emotional over this, Faith. Dude, you've only known them a few days…_ But she could not help it. She felt as though she knew everything about everybody here. Mikey was her best friend; the one who stood by her no matter what. Donnie was understanding, and helped her out when she needed it, much like Leo. Raph was a good substitute for Kain every once in a while, and Splinter was more of a father to Faith than her real one ever was, even if she did not hang out with him all the time.

"But, why do you have to go?" Mikey whined.

"Don't do that, Mikey," Faith pleaded. "This is hard enough on me… I'm gonna miss you guys… All of you…" She turned and threw her arms around Michelangelo, not caring if this was awkward to anybody or not. This could be the last time she saw any of them.

After taking a step back and finally letting go of her friend, she studied the room. Kain was staring blankly at Faith, and everybody else was looking at her expectantly. "Tell sensei that I said bye," Faith said, miserably.

Leo nodded his head. "It was nice meeting you…"

"Maybe out paths will cross again someday," Donnie said, quietly.

Raph watched Faith through narrowed eyes before murmuring, "I suppose you're not as bad as I thought you'd be."

Faith smiled, despite the situation she was in, and began to turn away. "You win, Kain. Thanks for taking the best thing in my life away from me," she muttered. With that, she walked away. Passing through the turnstile, she ignored Mikey as he called out to her as she exited the lair of the Turtles for the last time.


	17. Chapter 17

Kain shuffled his feet as he limped after his sister. He did not want to make her upset, but he wanted her to be safe. If she was secure, it would be worth her being angry with him for a while.

Faith gradually slowed down until she ambled on behind Kain. He did not slow his pace, however. He did not even focus on Faith at all. He instead reflected back on the argument they had just gone through. He was thankful that he had his shades with him. Kain would not have been pleased if the others could have read his expressions.

As they turned the corner and approached their house, Kain saw police cars parked in front of it. Narrowing his eyes, he strode forward and tried to push past the cops to get into the house.

"Hey, what are you doing?" one of them, a young adult, asked as she walked up to Kain.

"Trying to enter my house," Kain said, looking distrustfully up at her. "What are _you_ doing?"

The police officer looked surprised by Kain's retort.

 _Good,_ Kain thought.

"Did you not hear?" she asked, tilting her head as she gazed down at Kain. Pity shone in her eyes. Kain loathed when people felt bad for him. "The lady who lived here, Mrs. Hayes, she was in a car crash. She lost a lot of blood…"

Kain's heart rate sped up. Sure, he was never close to his mother, but could she really have _died?_ "What are you trying to say?" he asked, forcing his voice not to crack or shake.

"She… She passed," the cop clarified, setting a hand on Kain's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Kain's nightmare became reality and he closed his eyes. _She died? No… No! This cannot be happening! Now what do I do? I can't take care of Faith all by myself! I mean, sure… Mom was not really around anyway, but I always felt so much more confident knowing that I could simply call her if I had a problem… I did not know her—or, I didn't remember her—for more than five years, but still… I was just beginning to believe that she was my mother…  
_

Thoughts that raced through Kain's mind were jostled when the police spoke.

"Are you going to be alright? I'm sure we can get you to an orphanage… Stay here," she said, walking away and murmuring something to another police officer.

"K-Kain?" Faith stammered, walking up to Kain's side. "What's happening?"

"Listen…" Kain said quietly. "There is no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to put it out. Promise me that you won't run off or anything, yet. Alright?"

Faith looked at him with wide eyes before she slowly nodded her head.

Kain took a deep breath. "Faith, Mom's dead."

Faith did not answer for a moment. She was expressionless. There was a blank look upon her face, and she seemed to be incapable of using words. Kain figured that Faith must have had a closer relationship with their mother, and he could not imagine what she was feeling at the moment.

"D-Don't joke around like that…" Faith whispered, looking up at Kain and shaking her head. Though she tried to pretend that she did not believe Kain, her lip was trembling and tears began filling her eyes.

Kain stared down at Faith and could not help but feel sympathetic for her. He did not say anything to his sister. He did not need to. Kain figured that his emotions must have been showing behind his glasses, so he slowly lowered his shades slightly, allowing Faith to look into his eyes.

Immediately, grief poured across Faith's face, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Kain closed his eyes and pushed his shades up the bridge of his nose, setting them back into their place.

"Listen," Kain whispered. "When I tell you to run, you do it. Do you understand me? Just follow me, alright?"

"B-B-But, wh-why, K-Kain?" Faith stammered, her lip trembling uncontrollably.

"Just do as I tell you." The truth was that Kain did not want to go to an orphanage. _If we go, one of us may be adopted and the other will be left behind. All I want is for Faith to be safe, but how can her security be guaranteed if I cannot watch over her?  
_

Faith nodded her head and extended her arms, reaching out for a comforting hug, which Kain gave to her. He did not hug his sister often, but he needed to right now. He just had to make this situation as easy as it could be on her.

"Alright," the police officer said as she came back over to Kain. "She must be your sister? Well, she can come, too. We know an orphanage that you two can go to."

Kain's muscles tensed. Now was the time. If they did not run, they would be stuck. "Now, Faith! Run!" Kain muttered into his sister's ear. She stood still for a moment, staring at the cop, before she bolted in the opposite direction.

Kain followed her as quickly as he could, ignoring the calls of the police officer behind them. He sped up and led Faith away, not even once glancing back to their house as he did so.


	18. Chapter 18

Lilly returned to her home, and stepped through the large, metal doors.

"Did you find them?" the familiar, deep voice asked.

"I found the Turtles. Hamato Yoshi was not with them, however," Lilly replied, calmly.

"Take some ninjas," the voice ordered, "go fetch the Turtles."

Lilly nodded and bowed low. "They will be here soon," she promised. 

As she exited the large building with many of her 'coworkers' following her, Lilly led them straight to the sewers. _I must not screw this up. I cannot fail the mission._

Briskly walking down the alleyway and hopping silently into the manhole, Lilly led the way through the shadows of the sewers. Her lamp-like eyes must have been the only things that gave her away. They were a bright gray, while all of her clothing was black. Her Katana Blades were strapped to her back as she slinked through the darkest patches of the underground tunnels.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" one of the members behind Lilly asked.

 _New recruits… They always question orders._ "I've been down here many times," Lilly growled dangerously over her shoulder. "Are you questioning my knowledge?"

"N-No," the unsteady voice replied.

 _Good. They should be scared.  
_

"Stay back," Lilly ordered after they had walked a ways. The ones following her all came to a halt, watching Lilly intently.

Lilly strode out into the open, looking around. She listened for any noises at all. Once she was about to make a move forward, she heard a footfall behind her. Whipping around swiftly, she glared into the eyes of one of her company. "What are you doing? I told you to stay back!"

"I-I'm sorry…" the young boy stammered as he took a few steps backwards and into the shadows.

"Now be _quiet_!"

"Talking to yourself, now?" The familiar, mature voice rang out from behind Lilly.

Taking a deep breath and turning to face the speaker, Lilly greeted, "Hello, Leonardo."

"Lilly," Leo said, dipping his head ever so slightly. His eyes flickered to the Katana strapped to Lilly's back. "You're a—"

"No, they're fake," Lilly said, hoping that she sounded convincing. Casually, Lilly motioned for her followers to step forward, and began advancing on Leonardo as she tried to distract him. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I'm… Well…" Leo sighed, obviously not noticing Lilly's companions sneaking up behind him. "I needed to get away from the others for a while."

"Oh, well…" Lilly said, shrugging.

Leo's eyes flickered to the Katana again. "What are you carrying those around for, anyway?"

"Oh, I was going to play ninja with my friend, but… He did not really show up…" Lilly said, trying to seem nonchalant.

"I see," Leo said, though he still seemed suspicious.

Before he could say anything else, the ninjas behind him leapt out from the shadows and knocked him to the ground. One of them trotted over to Lilly's side and stared down at Leonardo, tilting their head to one side.

"Lilly!" Leo gasped, his eyes filled with shock.

"Hmm?" Lilly asked, smiling satisfactorily down at Leonardo.

"You're… In the Foot?" he stammered.

"Well, durr. Where'd you think I came from? Was it really not that obvious, Leonardo?" Lilly asked, glaring down at it him, her 'Foot Clan side', as she called it, beginning to show.

"I thought you were a normal person, like Faith!" Leo stated, starting to struggle.

"Well, you were wrong," Lilly growled, turning away. _I'm sorry, Leonardo! I don't want to do this, but… I have to… He wouldn't understand._ That was all that continued to race through Lilly's mind. "You know what to do," she said, addressing the ninjas accompanying her.

Quickly, they knocked out Leonardo, and Lilly began to lead the way back to her 'home'—the lair of Shredder, himself.


	19. Chapter 19

Faith's heart beat faster than it ever had before. The two teenagers continued to run from their house. Faith had looked back at their home one last time, and she almost instinctively turned back. But, she could not—she would not. She had to listen to Kain, even if she was still a bit angry with him. Most of her irritation towards him had now diminished and grief had swelled inside her chest instead.

"K-Kain, can't we stop now? The house is bound to be miles away by now," Faith called to her brother.

"We only ran a few blocks, Faith," Kain sighed.

"Well, where are we going? Can't we take a break?"

"I know where we are going, and no, we cannot. What if they are still following us?" Kain asked.

"Kain," Faith panted, "I looked back one last time! They hadn't moved from their spots. I don't think they care about us anymore."

"You can never be too sure," Kain growled, but he slowed down to a jog.

Surprisingly, even though Kain was crippled, he was actually an okay runner. Faith continued to follow her brother, trying to think of where he was leading her. _Maybe… Lilly's house? No, that can't be. He doesn't know where Lilly lives. Hold up… Now that I think about it, I don't either… Oh, well… Hmm… How about… Oh, I have no idea! Why aren't we going to the orphanage? What's wrong with it?  
_

"Kain!" Faith called up to her brother.

"What?"

"Why can't we go to the orphanage?"

"Do you want to go?"

"No, not really; I was just wondering why you didn't want to go," Faith said, innocently.

"I have a reason. Just, don't worry about it," Kain said after a moment of silence.

"Right."

After continuing to follow Kain, and not regressing on the complaints that she threw his way, Faith finally saw her brother begin to come to a halt. She looked around. It seemed to be the middle of the night. _It's later than I expected._ Gazing around at the silhouettes of the buildings, Faith noticed something very familiar about the place.

"Kain, I think I've been here before," she said, tentatively creeping up to her brother's side.

"I'm sure you have been. Do you know where we are?"

Faith narrowed her eyes and studied the surroundings. "I… It's… We're…" she stammered, trying to put her finger on it. "I know this! I was _just_ here! Oh, gosh, I give up, where are we?"

Kain did not say anything, but he gestured towards one of the alleyways. In that moment, Faith's heart sped up once more.

 _No way. It can't be._ "I thought… No… This isn't… Is it?"

Kain turned to Faith and nodded his head, and that was all that she needed to lift her spirits once more.


	20. Chapter 20

Kain did not know where else to turn. He would most certainly _not_ about to allow the two of them to be transferred to an orphanage. He figured that, even if he did not like these turtle-like people, they made Faith happy. Even if he did not trust them, Faith did; and right now, Kain was desperate. He needed to ensure that his sister was safe, so he took her to the only place that he could think of—the sewers.

"Oh, Kain, I thought you didn't like them! What are we doing here?" Faith asked, practically trembling with excitement.

"I don't like them," Kain growled. "Just hurry up and get moving before I change my mind."

Faith nodded her head eagerly and hurried down the alleyway and into the manhole.

Kain sighed and followed his thrilled sister, not being able to stop the smile that crept onto his face. _As much as I hate those guys, they make Faith happy. That's what she needs most right now.  
_

The two hurried through the sewers, Kain lagging behind Faith as she raced around corners and approached the turnstile.

Kain listened to the surprised and cheerful voices of everyone as she arrived.

"Faith! I thought you had to go!"

"Yeah, I did, but I'm back now."

"Is your brother here…?"

"Back so soon..?"

"Yes, Kain's here, he's coming."

Kain took a deep breath as he turned the corner. All eyes were on him. He stared calmly around and let himself in. "I need to speak with whoever is in charge here," he said.

"That would be me."

Kain looked around as he heard a new voice.

"Sensei!" Faith said, happily, waving to him from the crowd that she was compressed into.

Kain studied the new figure. It was a giant… Rat. _Great, another mutant._ "May I speak to you in private?" Kain asked, dipping his head vaguely.

The figure nodded and said, "Come with me." He led the way into what Kain presumed was his room. From there, the man-sized rat looked at him, tilting his head to one side faintly.

Kain took a deep, calming breath before he started. "Our mother—me and Faith's— was in a car wreck. She did not survive it. To get to the point, Faith and I need a safe place to stay. I was hoping that maybe we could settle here for a while; just until we get back on our feet."

The rat looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "You and Faith may stay here as long as you need."

Kain sighed with relief and bowed his head. "Thank you, sir," he said, quietly. He turned and headed out of the room and into the main area where Faith was chattering excitedly with the Turtles and the girl named April-who he had seen the last time he was in the sewers.

"Hey, Faith I have something to tell you," Kain said as he entered. The giant rat did not follow him back.

Faith looked up from her conversation with everyone and tilted her head. "What is it?"

Kain fumbled for the right words. "The… Uh… 'Man'—"

"His name is Master Splinter," Faith interrupted him.

"Right, Splinter. I spoke with him just now—" Kain started, but was interrupted by Faith once more.

"Well, of course you just spoke with him. What else would you have been doing with a giant rat? I suppose you could've been having pizza or something with him, but-"

"Faith…"

"Sorry, carry on," Faith said, grinning.

Kain sighed and rolled his eyes behind his shades. "I spoke with Splinter and he told me that we can…" He paused, which led Faith to tilt her head and looked at him expectantly. "We can stay here as long as we need to."

Faith's eyes widened and she looked around at the Turtles and April. "I-I… _What?"_

"We're staying here for a while, Faith," Kain explained.

Faith stared blankly at Kain before happiness poured across her face. "Shut up!" she yelled, bouncing around excitedly and throwing her arms around each of the people here in turn; first, the orange clad turtle, then the one with red, and finally the purple-masked one. She then gingerly hugged April. Faith came over to Kain and wrapped her arms around him briefly. "Oh, this is awesome! Thank you so much, Kain!"

She raced back across the room to the others and began to ramble on about how 'epic' this will be. After a moment, she paused and examined the place. "Where's Leo, guys?"

"He said he was going on patrol," the orange-masked turtle explained.

"He ran off right after you left," the one in the red bandana said.

"I think he wanted to be alone for a while," the one with the purple mask added.

Kain felt awkward that he did not know all of these turtle's names. "Faith, can I ask you something?" he asked, breaking into the conversation.

Faith looked at him and tilted her head, trotting over to her brother. "Sure, what is it?"

In a low voice, Kain said, "I… Don't know any of their names."

Faith giggled. "Well, go ask them then, silly."

Kain glared at the Turtles before sighing and walking up to them. He decided to start with the purple-masked one; he seemed least likely to do damage in any way. "Um… I—"

"I'm Donatello, but you can call me Donnie if you'd like," he said, holding his hand out.

"Kain," Kain replied, shaking Donnie's hand, briefly. He then moved to the red-masked one, staring at him expectantly. He had never been good at introductions of any sort.

The turtle stared down at him with a 'what do you want?' look. When Donnie glared at him, the red-masked turtle grumbled something and said curtly, "Raph."

"Kain…" Something about this turtle made Kain uneasy, and he quickly moved onto the orange-masked—and youngest-looking—turtle.

"I'm Michelangelo! You can call me Mikey, though; I don't mind. Do you like pizza? How about video games, do you like those?" The orange-masked turtle, obviously named 'Mikey' blurted out before Kain could say anything.

"Oh… Yeah, I remember you…" Kain said, not answering any of Mikey's questions. _He's the one who asked about my crippled leg…  
_

"Yup! I asked you about your broken leg!" Mikey said, brightly.

Kain held back the retort that swelled up in his throat. He took a step back and bowed. "It's nice to meet you all," he said, simply.

When April looked at Kain as though he had forgotten something, he said, "I know your name; you're April." He held out his hand, which April shook briefly.

"Why do you wear those glasses?" Mikey asked, but Kain pretended that he did not hear him. He did not want to answer any more questions like that right now.

"Faith, can you show me to the room that I can stay in?" Kain asked.

"Oh, um… Donnie, where can he stay?" Faith asked.

Donatello looked up from the papers that he was writing on and said, "Oh… In the spare room down the hall is fine, I suppose…"

"Okay, come on, Kain!" Faith said, enthusiastically as she led him through the new 'house'.

 _Maybe this won't be_ too _bad…_


	21. Chapter 21

Lilly sat in the dungeon before Leonardo, who was still out cold. She waited patiently for him to awake, thinking about what she had been told as she returned from partially completing the mission. 

_"_ _You only got_ one _of the Turtles?" Shredder had growled, glowering down at Lilly as she bowed before his throne.  
_

 _Lilly tried not to flinch away from him. "Yes, but I believe I am aware of a way to get the rest of them. If their precious leader is missing, they are bound to come along."  
_

 _Lilly must have caught Shredder on a good day, because he simply replied, "Fine. Take him to the dungeons."_

Lilly sighed. _Why can't I seem to do anything right?_ she wondered silently.

"Wha-? Where am I?" Leonardo sat up and realized that his arms and legs were in chains.

"Well, hello, Leonardo," Lilly said, tranquilly.

"Lilly? What's going on? Oh…" Leo seemed to have remembered all that had happened; Lilly was in the Foot… She worked for Shredder… And she was not his friend…

This whole time, she had been plotting. Plotting to take down the Turtles and Hamato Yoshi. Plotting to destroy each of their lives…

Lilly knew that this was all evil—it was horrible—but she was practically _raised_ by the Shredder; what else could one expect?

"What is it that you want?" Leo asked after a moment.

"I think you know that already." When he did not reply, Lilly sighed. "Answers, Leonardo."

"I can't give you those."

"Oh, and why not?"

"I can't endanger my family."

 _Family this, family that. What is with these people?_ Lilly wondered. _Nobody has ever cared for me like that. I don't understand it._ "Why not?"

"It's wrong," Leo said, simply.

"And…?"

"And. Doing the wrong thing is not right."

"No durr," Lilly grumbled. Before she could say anything else, Leonardo asked her a question that she was not expecting.

"Why do you do the things that you do?"

Lilly stayed silent for a moment, trying to process exactly what he was asking. "What do you mean?"

"The whole Foot business. Why do you work with them?"

Lilly rolled her eyes. _That's really what he's interested in?_ "Um… Because… That's just how I roll?" Lilly said, though it sounded more like a question than a comment.

"I don't think you're really that bad," Leo said.

"What part of kidnapping you, trying to get answers from you, and attempting to endanger your family do you not understand?" Lilly asked.

"If you really wanted to do something to us, you would've done it already. You've seen me multiple times, and each time you could have finished me off. But did you?"

Lilly deciphered what he had just told her. _Is he REALLY that stupid?_ "That's because I need you."

Leonardo stayed silent for a moment, probably question whether he was going to ask what was on his mind.

Lilly clarified. "I need you because as long as you're here, your brothers will come. And when they do, this will finally all be over…"


	22. Chapter 22

Faith sat in the main room of the Turtles' lair. She had just been awoken from her slumber by an anxious Raphael. Because Raph did not usually behave the way he was, Faith decided it would be best to do whatever he wanted her to do.

A tired-looking Donnie stumbled into the room and slumped down onto the couch next to Faith.

"Did Raph wake you up, too?" Faith asked in a low voice.

Donnie looked over at her. "No… I was working on my latest invention…" he mumbled, yawning. "He just came in talking about how Leo's missing or something like that."

"He told me the same thing," Faith said. "How do you think he knows this?"

"I think he's overreacting."

Faith nodded, but stopped when she heard Raph yelling in a different room.

"MIKEY, JUST GET UP."

The only response was Michelangelo zipping into the main room, a sleepy look on his face.

"Why do we have to get up so early?" he mumbled, staggering over to the couch and practically falling onto it.

"Something about Leo being missing," Faith said, resting her head onto her hands tiredly.

Raphael came back into the room and looked around. "Faith, go get your brother."

Faith grumbled and heaved herself to her feet. She shuffled into Kain's dim room and walked over to his bed, shaking his shoulder once she got there.

"Go away…" he muttered.

"I know, Kain. Sorry. You have to get up," Faith sighed, understanding how he felt.

"Why…"

"Because Raph wants to talk about how he thinks that Leo got kidnapped."

"It's still dark out…"

Faith smiled. "It might not be. We're in the sewers; there's no windows, remember. It could be three in the afternoon and we think it's midnight. I'm sure there's a clock in here somewhere, though."

Kain groaned before dragging himself out of bed. "Alright, let's go…" he mumbled.

Faith led him back to the main room and sat down on the couch between Donnie and Mikey again. Kain stumbled over and leaned on the arm of the couch.

"Hurry up so we can go back to sleep," Mikey said, impatiently.

"Shut up, Mikey," Raph growled.

"Don't tell him to shut up," Faith growled, without meaning to say anything out loud.

"Guys…" Donnie tried to break up the fighting.

"I can tell him what I want to tell him," Raphael retorted, ignoring Donnie's attempt to make them stop arguing.

"No, you can't," Faith said, matter-of-factly.

Mikey sat quietly and watched the fighting. He seemed to be fine with it all—that, or he was just used to it by now.

"GUYS," Donnie said, loudly. Everybody quieted down and looked at him. "Let's just get on to what we came here to talk about. Stop fighting."

"Yeah, Raph," Faith said in a low voice. "Stop fighting." A satisfied smile crossed her face as she stared at the hot-head out of the corner of her eye.

"Ignore her, Raph," Donnie said, elbowing Faith and shooting her with a warning glance. "Just tell us what you wanted to tell us."

"Leo's missing," Raph said, simply.

Faith yawned. "Is that it?"

Raph glared at her, and she shrugged. "No," he growled. "We need to go save him."

"Wait, wait," Kain said, shaking his head. "How do you know he's missing?"

"He hasn't come back, yet. He's been out since yesterday," Raph said, as though it was obvious.

"You're being too overprotective," Faith said. "I don't know if he's been kidnapped or anything like that. Maybe he's still on his walk-patrol thing."

Raph continued to glower at Faith. "I don't think you understand."

"Calm down, guys," Donnie stated. "Let's just call Leo and see if he's alright."

Everybody seemed to agree with that idea. Donnie pulled out his T-Phone and dialed Leonardo's number.

The room was hushed as everybody stared intently at Donatello. After what seemed like ages, Donnie sighed and set his T-Phone down.

"Well?" Faith asked, carefully.

"He didn't answer..."

"We have to help him!" Raph said, decisively.

"Can't we get some more sleep first?" Mikey asked, still half-asleep

"NO," Raph growled.

"Don't be rude," Faith said, protecting her friend.

Donnie sighed once more. "STOP."

The room became silent again, and Donnie looked around at everyone. "Okay. We can take the Shell Raiser. We should be able to track Leo's T-Phone. If he still has it with him, we'll be able to find where he is."

"The Shell Raiser?" Faith asked, tilting her head.

"You haven't heard of it?" Donnie asked. When Faith shook her head, he said, "I would've thought that Mikey would have said something about it to you."

"Oh… Well, he didn't."

"Come on!" Mikey said. His exhaustion seemed to have drained away. "I'll show it to you!"

The excited turtle dragged Faith out of the main room eagerly. When they entered a different area, Faith saw a vehicle sitting in the middle of the room.

"Is that…?"

"The Shell Raiser. Yup."

"How'd you get that?" Faith asked in awe.

"Donnie built it!"

"D-Donnie… _Built_ that thing?"

Mikey nodded his head. "Yup, and I named it."

"Sweet…" Faith whispered. When Donnie and the others entered the room, she announced, "Donnie! You're _awesome!"_

Donnie smiled, his gapped tooth showing, and shrugged. His smile faded as quickly as it appeared. "Um… Who can drive?" he asked.

"I can!" Mikey volunteered.

"That's… Not a good idea," Donnie said.

To Faith's surprise, Kain stepped forward. "I can."

Raph raised his eyebrow and looked at Kain's crippled leg, but Donnie simply nodded. "Thanks."

With that, everyone clambered into the car-Donnie, Mikey, Faith, and Raph all in the back seats, and Kain at the wheel.

 _This should be fun,_ Faith thought as they began moving. She felt anticipation building up inside her as she eagerly bounced up and down in her seat. _I'm gonna get to help the Turtles. I'm gonna get to help save Leo._


	23. Chapter 23

Kain frowned as he kept his eyes on the road ahead. _Driving is difficult…_ he thought.

A ball of paper flew up and hit the windshield in front of him. "THAT'S THE FIFTH ONE!" he called to the riders in the back. "CUT IT OUT."

Faith and Mikey mumbled something that Kain did not quite catch. After a moment, Kain felt something hit the back of his head.

"Would you STOP IT?" he growled loudly. _Their distractions are not helping!_

Donnie's voice was heard behind Kain.

"Guys, leave Kain alone, he's trying to drive. You don't want him to get us in a wreck, do you?" Donnie called back.

Kain winced when he heard Faith gasp. He knew what she was thinking—their mother died in a wreck.

Donnie was silent for a moment, presumably wondering what was the matter, but he did not ask questions. Instead, he called to Kain, "Alright, turn left up here. Then just go straight and we should be there."

Kain did as he was told and pulled over in an alleyway. "We're here," he called as he unbuckled his seatbelt and exited the Shell Raiser.

Faith and Mikey bolted out of the car, followed by Raph, who walked a bit slower, and finally Donnie.

"He should be in that building," Donnie said, as he led the way to the edge of the alleyway and pointed to a large building.

"What are we waiting for?" Raph growled impatiently.

"You know, Kain… Raph reminds me of someone," Faith said, smiling up at her brother.

Kain looked down at her. "Oh?"

"Yup. You."

"Oh, gosh, thanks," Kain said, scornfully.

"You're _welcome!"_

Kain sighed. "Let's go," he said, taking a step forward. Donnie held his arm out to block Kain's way. "What?" he growled.

"We can't just rush in there. There might be the Foot, or Shredder, or who knows what else inside that building. We have to be prepared for the fight of our lives." Donnie looked down at Kain's crippled leg as he spoke.

"If you're thinking that I can't fight, you're wrong," Kain growled. "I took some Karate at one point or another. Or… So Faith tells me."

"Yup. You were nine," Faith said, nodding.

"Right… Maybe… I should stay out here…" _If I did Karate when I was nine, I won't remember any of it…_

"No!" Faith protested. "If I go in, then you do, too."

"Then you're not going," Kain said.

"No… Donnie, I want to go…" Faith whined.

Donnie looked at her silently.

"Are you sure you want to, Faith?" Raph asked, teasingly. "It might be too hostile for you in there."

"Oh, shut up, Raph. I can take on anything that you can," Faith said, puffing out her chest.

"Oh?"

"Yup. Can't I go, Donnie, please?" Faith asked, looking at Donatello with puppy-dog eyes.

Donnie sighed. "No. It's too dangerous. Stay here." He began to walk away, towards the large building.

Raph shrugged at Faith and strode after Donnie.

Mikey looked apologetically at Faith and murmured, "Sorry, Faith…" before hurrying after his brothers.

Faith glared at Kain, who shrugged. _Why is she blaming me for this?  
_

"Thanks a lot…" Faith muttered, heading back into the Shell Raiser.

Kain sighed and allowed his sister to go. She would cool off after a while. The best thing Kain could do is sit back and wait.


	24. Chapter 24

Lilly sat silently in front of Leo. _Why is he so stubborn?_ She could not get anything helpful out of him; in fact, she could barely get anything out of him, and when she did, it was useless junk.

"Leo! Just tell me where Hamato Yoshi is," Lilly growled.

"That's what you want to know, then?" Leonardo asked.

"What did you think I wanted to know? I already know where your brothers are!" Lilly yelled.

Leo shrugged, but said nothing.

"Stop worrying about your family so much, Leonardo. Do you really think that they would do this for you?"

"Yes, I do think so."

"I doubt it. You think your youngest brother would fight like this? You think that he wouldn't just give in?" Lilly asked, trying to turn Leo against his brothers.

"I don't know what he'd do," Leonardo said. "But I don't care. I'm not going to do anything to endanger them."

Lilly growled, and just then, the dungeon door swung open. The girl leapt to her feet and pulled out her Katana Blades. _Who would that be?  
_

There was nobody for a moment, but then Leonardo's brothers bolted into the room. All of them had their weapons out.

"Leo!" Michelangelo called out, looking at Leonardo, who was still in chains.

Raphael growled and raced forward towards Lilly, his sais outstretched. Lilly swiftly stepped to the side, avoiding the hot-headed turtle, and ignoring a remark from Donatello. Lilly focused on fighting Raph for a while.

"You fight like a girl," he growled, stepping forward and aiming a blow at Lilly's Katana, perceptibly hoping to knock it out of her hand.

"That doesn't surprise me," Lilly said, moving her blade out of the way and slicing it across Raph's shoulder, "Considering the fact that I _am_ a girl."

Raphael grumbled, ignoring the cut in his shoulder. He raced forward and tried to stab Lilly in the chest with his sai. She stepped quickly out of the way and stroke Raph again, only this time she managed to stab him in the chest. She drove her Katana a little ways through Raphael's plastron before she was hauled backward and thrown to the ground.

Blinking, Lilly looked up and saw Leonardo standing above her. His Katana was up to her neck.

"I trusted you," he said quietly.

"I know; betrayal is a cruel beast, isn't it?" Lilly asked.

"Leo! We have to get Raph home!" Lilly heard Donatello yell from somewhere behind her.

"You had better get going, Leonardo," Lilly sneered, "gotta take care of your family."

Leo looked up and focused on his brothers. While he wasn't paying attention to her, Lilly grabbed his Katana and shoved it away from herself. Leaping to her feet, she bolted out of the dungeon and away from the Turtles. She did not know how she would tell Shredder that she had failed him, but she would think of some way. She always did.


	25. Chapter 25

Faith sulked in the Shell Raiser. "I wanted to help fight. Why doesn't Kain let me do things that I want? Why didn't Donnie let me go? Why do people never understand me?" She muttered questions to herself, half-wishing that there was someone to answer them.

After what seemed like ages of sitting in her seat, Kain finally came into the vehicle.

"Guess who is back…" he said, though he did not sound very happy about it.

"What happened?" Faith asked, standing up quickly and racing over to her brother. When he did not answer, Faith grew frustrated. "Kain! What happened?"

"Guys, be quiet and move out of the way."

"Leo?" Faith asked, standing on her tiptoes and trying to see over Kain's shoulder. After a moment, she moved out of the way, and so did Kain. Faith gasped and held her hand up to her mouth once the brothers entered the van.

Leonardo and Donatello were helping to carry a very injured Raphael. Michelangelo was trailing behind, looking crestfallen.

"What happened?" Faith asked once again.

"Your friend, Lilly... She was in the Foot and she captured me, hoping that you guys would come and help. You did, like she expected, and when Raph was fighting her, she stabbed him with her Katana," Leo explained quickly as he set his injured brother into his seat.

"Lilly did this?" Faith asked as she stepped towards Raph and looked at his wound. He was bleeding heavily.

"Yes," Donnie said as he headed to his seat in the Shell Raiser. Everyone hurriedly took their seats—Leo took the wheel, Mikey took the back, Kain sat in Faith's prior seat, and Faith sat next to Raph.

After the fast drive back to the lair, Leo and Donnie helped take Raph in while Faith, Mikey, and Kain hurried after them.

"Sensei, help!" Faith called as she raced through the turnstile.

Master Splinter rushed out of his room and looked at Raph. "Set him down. Get some bandages, quickly," he instructed.

Leo and Donnie set Raph on the couch as Mikey bolted away to grab some bandages. He raced back into the room and quickly handed them to Splinter, who bent down and hurriedly began to patch up Raphael's wound tightly.

"He should be alright, now," Splinter said, keeping an eye on his son.

Everyone held their breath as they stared intently at Raphael.

Soon enough, Raph stirred and made a grumbling noise.

"Raph!" Mikey and Faith shouted in unison.

"Wha—what happened?" he asked, looking dazedly around the room.

"Lilly stabbed you!" Mikey said, dramatically.

"Are you alright?" Faith asked, anxiously.

"I'm fine…"

"We thought for a minute that we might lose you," she continued, smiling mischievously and tapping her chin.

Of course, she had not really believed that for a moment. The thought had never even occurred to her.

Leo shot Faith a look and said, "No we didn't, Raph. Faith, stop messing with him."

"But, it's fun…" Faith protested.

Master Splinter smiled and said, "How about you all get something to eat? You must be hungry."

"Pizza!" Mikey shouted, racing out of the room and into the kitchen.

He came back after a moment with a box of pizza. He opened it and everyone dug in, beginning wolfing down their slices. For the first time in Faith's life, she felt as though she actually had a _real_ family.


	26. Chapter 26

Kain sat on the arm of the couch in the lair, watching Mikey and Faith play a video game. Leo sat on the floor, while Raph watched from his seat next to Kain. Donnie was in his lab, still working on his new invention.

"Hey! That's cheating, you can't do that!" Faith protested as Mikey began winning. Kain would have said something, but Faith did not sound angry at all; she sounded as though she was having the time of her life, so he decided to stay out of it.

"Yes I can, and it's not cheating! It's called 'winning'," Mikey argued.

Even though Kain was happy, he began to feel sick. "I think I'm gonna go to my room…" he said, standing up. "I'm a bit tired…"

"See you in the morning," Leo said, looking up at him.

Kain nodded and said, "Goodnight, guys…"

He walked through the lair and limped to his room. Once he arrived at it, he closed the door and left the lights off. Walking over to his bed and flopping down upon it, Kain stared up at the ceiling. He was not tired. He did not want to sleep. He wanted some time alone to think.

 _It's not so bad here… I thought these guys were dangerous, when really… They're just like anyone else. It surprises me. I assumed that they were horrible, and rude, when that's the total opposite of what they really are… Perhaps I should stop judging books by their covers… Likewise, I should stop judging people—or mutants—by their looks.  
_

Kain's door was opened and he lifted his head and looked up to see Faith entering. She peered at him anxiously.

"Are you okay?" she asked, taking a few steps in.

"I'm fine… I just needed to think."

"What about?"

"…You know, you were right," Kain said.

"What was I right about, Kain?"

"About the guys; they aren't bad at all. They're… They're like…" Kain struggled for words, but could not find the appropriate ones. Faith finished his sentence for him.

"Family. They're like the family we never had, but always needed."

"Exactly."

"Does that mean we can stay forever?"

Kain smiled softly, which was rare for him. "We can stay, until…"

"Until?" Faith asked, her smile fading.

"Until Splinter kicks us out," Kain said with a chuckle.

"Thanks, Kain… You're the best," Faith said, her smile restoring.

Kain nodded. That was his usual way of saying 'you're welcome'.

Faith looked over her shoulder and said, "Well… I'd better go. Mikey's probably waiting for me. I have to try and beat him on that game now…"

Kain's smile did not fade. He was surprised with himself. He was so happy. He did not understand it. "Good luck," he called to Faith as she left his room.

 _I don't get it. There's something about this place—something about the people here… Something about Faith. I can just never be angry with any of them. I don't understand. But I want to. Why would I feel like these guys are my family? Surely it's not only because Faith feels that way.  
_

That's when Kain came to the realization.

 _It's because they_ are _my family…_


	27. Chapter 27

Lilly took a deep breath. She was not ready. She did not yet think of how she would tell the Shredder what she had done; but she was out of time. The Shredder was calling her. She briskly made her way into his throne room with only one thought racing through her mind; _how will I pull this off without getting myself killed?  
_

"Lilly? I presume that you took care of the Turtles and Hamato Yoshi?" The deep voice sent a wave of shivers up Lilly's spine.

She tried to keep herself from shaking as she opened her mouth to tell Shredder the truth—to tell him that she had fail him, that the Turtles had escaped, and that Hamato Yoshi's whereabouts were still undecided; but when she spoke, completely different words spilled from her lips. "Yes," she said confidently, "I did. I disposed of each of them, along with their bodies."

She expected Shredder to not believe her, or to ask her for proof, or at least question her in some way—but that did not happen.

"Good," he praised her. "You have done well, Lilly."

Lilly's heart was pumping harder than it ever had before. He believed her? He was simply going to let her off with just that?

"I will call for you if you are needed."

"Hai," Lilly said, dipping her head. She stood up and forced her shaky legs to bring her out of the throne room.

 _No! No, no, no, this is not what I wanted! What if he finds out that I lied? He'll kill me for sure! Oh, no… This is bad, what if—no. He won't find out. I will make sure of it…  
_

Lilly stopped by her room before she left for what she hoped—or thought—might be the last time. She looked over at the tank on the chest located to the left of her bed. It contained her pet. He was an alligator named Tike—but of course, he was only a baby. Lilly had been ignoring him for a while now, and she decided that maybe he needed a new home.

With a sigh, she walked over to the terrarium and took out her pet.

"Hey," she whispered softly. He did not reply, but Lilly had not really expected him to. "What do you say it's about time for you to get a new home?"

She gently put him into her loosest pocket and took one last quick look around her small room before she exited.

Lilly shuffled her feet down the lamp-lit streets. She leisurely made her way to the street on which she knew a pet store was located. Maybe they would take Tike.

Lilly kept her gaze locked on the road below her, thinking about what she was going to do now. _I could run away? Oh, but he would find me if he wanted to. If he found out, the Foot would surely be after me._ _I could—  
_

Her train of thought was broken into when her foot hit a canister. She shook herself and blinked down at it. It contained gelatin-like liquid. She looked around before bending down and picking up the container. Lilly examined it for a moment before bolting into the alleyway to study it more.

"What is this?" she asked herself quietly. She began to flip around the container, looking at it from each side. When she held it upside down, however, it popped open and spilled all across her legs and arms.

"Ew…" she grumbled, shaking her arms in an attempt to remove the goop from herself; it splattered up onto her face instead.

She dropped the canister as the pain kicked in. The pain… It was so bad she would not have wished it on the cruelest person in the world…

When it finally stopped, she continued to lay still for a moment, breathing heavily. She finally brought her hand up to her face to rub her eyes; but she pulled back when she realized it was different. It did not _feel_ the same, in some way.

She pulled back and examined her hands. A gasp escaped her lips and she scrambled back. Starting in the middle of her arm, green scales began to form and wrap up her down her hand, becoming more detailed as they approached her fingertips. Where her nails once were, sharp, two-inch-long claws replaced them, and she only had four fingers on each hand.

She looked behind her, as she bumped into something, to see a tail-like figure.

"That's not mine… Is it?" she asked, quietly.

She stood up and looked down at her legs. They were now large, green, and muscular. She had four toes on each foot, and each toe had the talon-like claws that her hands bore. Her jeans were torn at the seams and they were now lying upon the ground.

She looked around the streets; it was once almost pitch-black, but now everything was brighter. It was almost like some sort of night-vision, but without the goggles.

Lilly soon came to the realization that whatever the goop was…

Had turned her into a mutant.

 **~The End**


End file.
